There are probably few rules that have provoked so much thought, arguments and, ultimately, judgments as the European Treaty rules on competition. This book aims to explain those rules by presenting them and the related European (human rights) legislation together with case extracts from the most important Commission decisions and court cases pertaining to those provisions.

The book is divided into two parts. Part 1 deals with the competition provisions of the EU Treaties and the main EU regulations on competition. Part 2 discusses the relevant provisions of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case extracts were selected for their interpretative value for the relevant provision. The extracts originate mostly from decisions of the European Commission and judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Although most come from landmark cases, some have been taken from decisions or judgments that are less well known but shed new light on the interpretation of the Treaty or that otherwise fill a gap of some kind. In all instances, however, it is the extract that explains the law, rather than the authors of this book. To that end, the ambition of the authors is to present a compilation of concise extracts that are both objective and comprehensible. For the convenience of the reader, the references in the case extracts to the articles of the various treaties have been renumbered so that they are in accordance with the Lisbon Treaty. The new numbering has been placed between brackets.

The documents and case extracts reproduced in this second edition are current up to and including 31 August 2016. In some instances, however, it has been possible to include more recent material.

The scope of European competition law and the volume of the case law require a large team to keep track of all the developments. We wish to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the following contributors:

• Jacques Derenne on state aid;

• Greetje van Heezik on agriculture;

• Mats Johnsson on Articles 3 and 4 TEU and Regulation 1/2003;

• Karsten Metzlaff and Peter Stauber on merger control;

• Edmon Oude Elferink on cartels;

• Alvaro Pliego Selie on abuse of dominance and public undertakings;

• Herman Speyart on human rights.

The final editing was ours. We welcome any suggestions for amendments or improvements. Please send these to us by e-mail at w.verloren@houthoff.com or b.reuder@houthoff.com.

Weijer VerLoren van Themaat and Berend Reuder

Amsterdam, 28 March 2017