Competition analysis in antitrust, merger, cartel or state-aid cases

The economic analysis of competition cases has to a large extent become part of European and German competition procedures. These procedures encompass a wide range of areas – from mergers through anticompetitive agreements to the abusive behaviour of dominant firms, collusion and State aid.

Despite severe discrepancies in the assessment of cases in the individual areas, there is a general, unifying approach of balancing the negative, anticompetitive effects of a measure against potential efficiencies. Accordingly, a set of economic methods and concepts is applicable throughout all fields of competition policy, like counterfactual analysis, market definition, the assessment of unilateral or coordinated effects and the quantification of efficiencies. Economic analysis is however at a constant interplay together with legal strategies. It is therefore important to have an economic team which can provide a competition analysis which is both economically and legally robust.

The experts from ESMT Competition Analysis testified in all fields of competition policy both before the relevant competition authority and the European or national court in charge.

Please visit our web pages Courses and Conferences and Research and Publications on competition analysis recently carried out by the ESMT CA team in merger, antitrust or state aid cases.