Insegnamento a.a. 2024-2025

General principles  and basic concepts:

• A brief history of competition law in a nutshell
• The goals of EU competition law. Neoclassical, the chicago school of economics, post chicago and .. back to the origins of antitrust.
• Competition law and economics (and their critics)
• The EU enforcing system. Public (and Private) enforcement of competition law, and their relationship
• The EU remedies against anticompetitive business practices. Procedure and substance.
• Market power and market definition.

 Specific business practices:

• Agreements.
• Abuses of a dominant position. Exploitative and ezxclusionary abuses
• Horizontal and non-horizonal Mergers.

At the end of the course student will be able to...

• Identify the goals of competition law and distinguish them from those characterizing other pieces of business regulations.
• Understand the role economics plays in competition law.
• Know the EU competition law enforcement's system and its evolution
• Know and apply the different remedies that in the EU can be applied against anticompetitive practices.
• Use the notion of market power and the rules about agreements, abuses of a dominant position, and mergers to develop the economic/legal reasoning to assess different market scenarios.
• Understand the limits of competition law and its relationship with our public policies (sustainability, industrial policy, unfair trade practices, consumer law, protection of national interests, etc.)

At the end of the course student will be able to...

• Understand the various goals of competition law and policy and their implication for enforcement.
• Identify the possible antitrust risks inherent to different market scenarios.
• Solve hypothetical cases concerning the lawfulness of, and risks connected to, different business practices.
• Suggest methods of self-evaluation of business activities to avoid or limit the risk of subsequent antitrust liability.
• Discuss, analyze e design possible solutions to competition law mock cases.
• Prepare concise presentations in which the bulk of a decision/judgment is highlighted and explained in simple terms.
• Prepare short written memos or essays on the antitrust viability of some business practices and/or on the different reasons why a certain behaviour or transaction should be considered an infringement from a competition law perspective.
• communicate with appropriate legal (antitrust) vocabulary.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments
• Interaction/Gamification

• The course usually hosts one or more guest speakers, such as competition officers, economic advisers, and/or legal advisors, to explain how to become a competition law/policy professor, to describe the antitrust consulting industry, and the secrets of the enforcement activity "in action".
• Decisions/judgments are assigned to up to 12 groups of up to 5 students, discussed with the instructors, and eventually presented and analyzed in class to show students how to assess market scenarios. The activity is not mandatory, but allows students that successfully complete the tast to avoid one of two multiple choice sections. The two best presentations will also be awarded respectively 2 and 1 points in the final exam.
• At the end of each of the course’s main sections (agreements, monopolistic practices, and mergers), we will prepare and discuss a mock exam showing how to solve both theoretical and scenario questions.
• Attendance is not mandatory but highly encouraged since all the relevant cases / antitrust scenarios will be discussed in class.
• For those who are not able/willing to attend, we will organize a couple of specific "in distance office hours and course reviews". The exam program and materials will remain the same.

ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

The exam is written and is a closed-book exam. Students can bring the relevant antitrust laws and regulations (you will find more information in the Bboard).

• The written final exam consists of 2 scenario questions and 2 multiple-choice sections. The two scenario questions aim at testing the ability to address and set up the solution to a hypothetical case (for instance by identifying a possible line of defense in an antitrust investigation); theoretical questions aims to reveal the understanding of complex legal concepts and issues, as well as demonstrating how they are actually applied and interpreted by antitrust authorities or in the case law. Each scenario question is worth 10.5 points. The two Multiple-choice question sections are composed by 6 questions each one. Each correct answer will be worth 0.8  points. They aim at assessing the general understanding of competition law and policy.
• Students that successfully presented in class the main issues and core of a decision/judgment  can skip the first multiple-choice section (you will be automatically awarded 4.8 points).
• Furthermore, the best two class presentation will be awarded, 2 and 1 points, respectively.

Powerpoint presentations that are available on the Bboard (compulsory).

Videos on specific topics (compulsory).

Main legal provisions that are available on the Bboard (compulsory).

Materials/papers/presentations/mock questions/resumes of decisions on the Bboard

R. WHISH, D. BAILEY, Competition Law, tenth edition, Oxford Un. Press, 2021 (recommended); N.B.: the book is a complete guide to EU antitrust law (and also, UK competition Law) a sort of safety net, useful if you want to deepen or better understand our slides, and for the preparation of class presentations and short essays. However, this book is very "thick", i.e. more than 1.000 pages.

if you prefer  something shorter, this is a very good alternative:

J.W. VAN DE GRONDEN, C.S. RUSU, Competition Law in the EU, Elgar, 2021.