Competition (Amendment) Act 2017 A ‘false self-employed worker’ means an individual who— performs for a person (‘other person’), under a contract (whether express or implied and if express, whether orally or in writing), the same activity or service as an employee of the other person, has a relationship of subordination in relation to the other person for the duration of the contractual relationship, is required […]
Employment & Competition Employment contracts are subject to the restraint of trade doctrine and to the Competition Act, in relation to anti-competitive restrictions. The restraint of trade doctrine is a long standing common law principle. The Competition Act focuses primarily, on agreements or arrangements between undertakings or businesses. However, it may impact on employment agreement in some limited circumstances. Employees as such are not undertakings […]
Restraint of Trade Doctrine The common law renders void, a contract which provides for an unreasonable restraint of trade. Restraint of trade refers to a purported contractual provision, which restricts a person’s ability to carry out his trade, profession or business with others. The restriction my restrict a person from setting up business in a particular field, within a certain geographical area for a period. […]
The 2014 Act amends Part 3 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 by inserting a new Part on Grocery Goods Undertakings. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation may make regulations in respect of certain aspects of the commercial relationships between relevant grocery goods undertakings and specifies those matters on which the Minister may make such regulations (including the form of contract to be entered […]
Guidelines on the application of Article 101(3) TFEU (formerly Article 81(3) TEC) The Commission sets out the criteria for assessment under Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (ex-Article 81(3) of the Treaty Establishing the European Community (TEC)) with a view to exempting agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices, which are prohibited under Article […]
Guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to horizontal cooperation agreements These guidelines are designed to help companies determine on a case-by-case basis whether their cooperation agreements are compatible with the competition rules by providing a framework for assessment under Articles 101 (1) and (3) of the Treaty on the […]
EU rules on concerted practices and agreements between companies Regulation No 19/65/EEC on application of EU treaties to certain types of agreements and concerted practices between companies Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) – competition rules applying to companies Article 101 (2) states that all agreements that fall within the scope of Article 101(1) are void unless they […]
Exemption for vertical supply and distribution agreements Regulation (EU) No 330/2010 — application of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices gives a block exemption from Article 101(1) TFEU to vertical agreements* which fulfil certain requirements. These agreements may, for instance, help a manufacturer to enter a new market, or avoid the situation whereby one distributor […]
De minimis notice: Exemption for agreements of minor importance Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition (De Minimis Notice) Article 101(1) Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits agreements between businesses that are liable to prevent, affect or distort competition within the EU. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has consistently recognised that this article does […]
Agreements and Practices Both EU and Irish legislation prohibits agreements, concerted practices and decisions by businesses or businesses association which have as their the object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. The prohibition covers formal and informal agreements, arrangements and tacit understandings between businesses not to compete or to limit competition. EU law applies to the restriction or distortion of competition between […]
Prohibition The terms of the prohibition on anti-competitive behaviour are set out in the general note on competition law. In broad terms, an anti-competitive arrangement, which is not otherwise justifiable on objective grounds, is prohibited. The key provisions of the legislation are in quite general terms, so it may be difficult to apply to a particular set of circumstances. Breach of the provision may lead […]
Bid Rigging Arrangements to rig bids in public procurement competitions are regarded as serious breaches of competition law. The rigging may take different forms. It may involve a chosen winning tender in advance, with other members submitting false bids. Different tenders may attempt to “win” bids in succession. The bid rigging might, in effect, constitute price-fixing and division of the market on an allocated basis. […]
Commercial Agency The EU Directive on commercial agency provides for the terms on which restrictions may be imposed on commercial agents following the termination of the agency. Non-compete clauses are valid only to the extent that it is concluded in writing and relates to a geographical area or group of customers and geographical area entrusted to the commercial agents and the type of goods covered […]
Market Sharing Cartels and market-sharing arrangements constitute one of the most serious breaches of competition law. Cartels may involve blatant and explicit conspiracies to set prices or share markets. More commonly, cartels operate informally, and of their nature, they are undocumented. They may be difficult to prove. Cartels typically operate in markets with relatively few participants. There may be a duopoly or oligopoly. However, cartels […]
Property The Competition Authority has been reluctant to apply competition law to restrictions on the use of the property. However, it is clear that competition law is potentially applicable to restrictions on the use of land. Restrictions are commonly imposed in shopping centre leases on the use of units. In many of its notifications under the Competition Act 1991, the Competition Authority concluded that the […]
Notice The Competition Authority issued a new category declaration in relation to vertical agreements and concerted practices in 2010. This exempts certain types of agreements and practices from the general prohibition. The declaration closely follows the 2010 EU Commission equivalent block exemption regulation. The following types of vertical agreement comply with the conditions in S. 4(5) of the Competition Act to the extent that such […]
Joint R & D A block exemption applies to joint research and development on products and processes with joint exploitation of the results of the same. Research and development agreements may benefit from a block exemption. This applies even between competitors, provided that their combined share in the relevant market is less than 25% at the time the agreement is entered. The exemption continues so […]
EU Block Regulation The 2010 EU Regulation on Vertical Agreements significantly changed the approach of previous block exemptions. It provides exemptions on more general terms, which in effect, allows more restraints to be permissible in principle unless prohibited. It adopts a so-called black list of prohibited terms and a white list of permissible terms. It gives greater flexibility in vertical agreements. A safe haven is […]
EU Competition Law Competition policy has been a central element of the European Union Treaties since the outset. The completion of the customs union, common market and later the single market required a system of competition control to ensure that competition in the single market was not disturbed. The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union restates the basic prohibition on anti-competitive agreements and […]
Agreements and Practices EU, UK and Irish legislation prohibit agreements, concerted practices and decisions by businesses or businesses association which have as their the object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. The prohibition covers formal and informal agreements, arrangements and tacit understandings between businesses not to compete or to limit competition. EU law applies to the restriction or distortion of competition between […]
Vertical Restraints Vertical restraints are agreements made between persons operating at different levels in the market, such as manufacturers and distributors. Vertical agreements come in a variety of forms, including franchising agreements, distribution agreements and single branding agreements. There may be a mixture of different elements in particular types of agreements. Vertical agreements typically contain restraints which may have anticompetitive effects but may nonetheless be […]