Van Bael & Bellis’ Competition Law of the European Union, Sixth edition, receives high praise from Professor Nicolas Petit

• 19/10/2021
• Books

Nicolas Petit, Professor at the European University Institute (EUI), describes the Sixth Edition of Van Bael & Bellis’ Competition Law of the European Union  as "A great wine, “the” Van Bael & Bellis gets better edition after edition. The book dominates the competition by its clarity of exposition and comprehensive treatment of an ever changing field. A must read for all legal practitioners, academics and antitrust economists."

Published in February 2021, the Sixth Edition of this major work by the well-known competition law team at Van Bael & Bellis in Brussels provides a comprehensive analysis of the EU competition rules as developed primarily by the Commission, the General Court and the Court of Justice. This new edition reflects the many developments in the case law and relevant legislation that have occurred since the Fifth Edition was published in 2010 (as “Competition Law of the European Community”).

On the launch of this edition, Head of Competition at Van Bael & Bellis Andrzej Kmiecik commented: “The publication of the Sixth Edition is a significant achievement for the firm’s competition team. The practice of competition law at the highest level requires leading technical expertise in this continuously evolving field of the law, and we believe the appearance of this new edition is an important illustration of our expertise. We trust it will contribute to the better understanding and further development of the law.”  

This edition continues to follow the successful format of previous editions in covering all substantive and procedural aspects of the EU antitrust rules and merger control, as well as including a much-extended chapter on private enforcement and – for the first time – a dedicated section on competition law in the pharmaceutical sector.

Notable developments examined by the authors include:

–          important rulings concerning the concept of a restriction by object under Article 101;

–          the extensive case law in the field of cartels, including in relation to cartel facilitation and price signalling;

–          important Article 102 rulings concerning pricing and exclusivity, including the Post Danmark and Intel judgments, as well as standard essential patents;

–          the current block exemption and guidelines applicable to vertical agreements, including those applicable to the motor vehicle sector;

–          developments concerning online distribution, including the Pierre Fabre and Coty rulings;

–          the current guidelines and block exemptions in the field of horizontal cooperation, including the treatment of information exchange;

–          the evolution of EU merger control, including court defeats suffered by the Commission and the case law on procedural infringements;

–          the burgeoning case law related to pharmaceuticals, including in respect of reverse payment settlements;

            –          the current technology transfer guidelines and block exemption;

–          procedural developments, including in relation to the right to privacy, access to file, parental liability, fining methodology, inability to pay and hybrid settlements;

–          the implementation of the Damages Directive and the first interpretative rulings.

With an attempt to cut through the theoretical underpinnings of EU competition law to expose its actual impact on business, this book combines a critical commentary on the rules with practical guidance on their application. One of its kind, this book is an authoritative new edition of a classic work that – time and again – proves to be of immeasurable value to both business persons and their legal advisers.

Click here to order the book.