Competition law in comparative perspective

Abstract

This book presents and discusses a selection of major topics within various areas of competition laws. It is divided into 8 parts. The first three parts contain introductory materials, as well as reviews of competition authorities and some basic concepts of competition law. Parts 4 and 5 present the prohibition of anti–competitive agreements and the prohibition of the abuse of a dominant position. Part 6 discusses legal sanctions for prohibited practices and procedures relating to such practices. Part 7 is devoted to the control of concentrations. The last part adds some information on the relation between competition and the state. The purpose of this study is to introduce the readers to the basic information on competition law of the European Union and national competition laws of Poland, United Kingdom, Spain and the Czech Republic. For such selection of material I take sole responsibility. This is not the first book on competition law in comparative perspective. However, there are rarely any studies that offer such a combination of the competition laws being compared. Although I had been working on this book for a long time, I was able to complete it owing to circumstances created for me by the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok. I am grateful also to fellow lecturers and students who encouraged me to develop a book in English on competition law. Without discussions with them, the completion of this work would not have been possible; they inspired me to make several corrections and improvements to the text of the book. The exchange of experience and access to various, sometimes diffi cult to find foreign books, were essential stages of the book’s completion. A significant range of bibliographic resources that I had access to forced me to select material. In the footnotes, however, I tried to focus on sources in English. Those who are interested in the details thereof are referred to them for further information. Anna Piszcz