Judicial Review: Do European Courts Care About Market Definition?

Abstract

Applicants have a very small chance of seeing the European Courts overturn a market definition in a Commission decision. There is a tendency to limit judicial review of market definitions to manifest errors of assessment, when, actually, most issues that are raised before the Court are points of facts, of law or of logic, which are subject to full judicial review. The ECJ has shown itself particularly unwilling to discuss this issue, jeopardising the rights of the defence, the objectivity of market definition and, ultimately, the rule of law.

Keywords: Competition Law, Antitrust, market definition, judicial review

JEL Classification: K21