Treatment of Exclusionary Abuses under Article 82 of the EC Treaty: Comments on the European Commission's Guidance Paper

In December 2008, the European Commission issued a Guidance paper setting out its enforcement priorities in applying Article 82 to abusive exclusionary conduct. In response, CEPS formed a Task Force of legal scholars, practicing attorneys and corporate counsel to debate and comment on this latest Guidance paper and to issue recommendations aimed at improving the Commission’s text and the interpretation of the rules it contains. Even if the Commission does not issue a revised version of the Guidance paper, the members of the Task Force hope that their comments will be useful to the Commission in its application of the principles set out in the Guidance paper and to national courts in their interpretation of the Guidance paper.