Integrating Environmental Protection and EU Competition Law: Why Competition Isn't Special

One of the biggest challenges facing environmental policy makers at present is that of integrating environmental protection goals into economic policy areas. Unless this is genuinely achieved, it is clear that environmental degradation will continue apace. Though one of the EU's most important areas of economic competence is competition policy, many policy makers and commentators reject the notion that environmental concerns should play a significant role in EU competition analysis. In that light, this article addresses two key questions. First, should this approach apply? Second, if not, what are the principles that govern how environmental protection requirements should be taken into account by decision makers applying EU competition law? In answering these questions, the article puts forward three theoretical arguments as to why, and how, the environmental benefits and damage flowing from goods and services should be taken into account by EU competition decision makers, based, respectively, on legal systematic, governance and economic reasoning.     

激烈竞争下的变革:公司法判例法方法的引入

我国《公司法》2005年的修改拉开了公司法现代化的序幕。在大量借鉴和引入西方先进公司法制度的同时,我们应审视我国公司法发展和变革轨迹。目前,西方国家公司法发展和竞争的良好态势使学习和借鉴一些判例法国家的先进公司法律制度成为首选,但是,一味将这些属于舶来品的制度进行盲目借鉴,必将导致产生一些不可预知的后果,我国的公司法改革也将可能因此而误入歧途。这就有必要在我国现有公司成文法体系的基础上,适时引入产生先进公司法律制度的方法和途径即判例法方法,以有效推进有中国特色公司法的改革,使我国公司法既能满足自身制度发展的内在需求,也能够沉着应对潜在的区域公司法的制度性竞争,为今后我国公司法的不断改进和迅速发展奠定良好的体系性基础。     

Competition for Sustainability: Sustainable Development Concerns in National and EC Competition Law

Competition law has become increasingly important in regulating the economy. This article aims to explore how domestic competition law relates to sustainable development. It distinguishes three ways that competition law can take into account environmental and social priorities: through substantive competition rules fostering social or ecological purposes; through exceptions, exemptions and exclusions; and through the enhanced application of competition laws. The first form is very interesting and currently not very widely used. Only a very few countries, such as South Africa, have included substantive provisions to promote social development in their competition laws. Most countries allow for some version of the second form of sustainable competition law. Few countries' laws are as outspoken about their public policy goals as is Spain in its new draft competition law. This new draft law explicitly lists environmental protection and social policies as grounds upon which the government could repeal a competition decision. The third form is relatively unproblematic as it creates a win-win situation for competition and sustainable development. This article surveys some of the most interesting competition law developments across the world and indicates where these domestic regimes take into account environmental or broader social issues when making competition-related decisions such as merger approvals.     

反倾销法与竞争法之冲突与协调

反倾销法与竞争法存在一些天然的联系.然而许多国家的实践表明,对外贸易政策的实施,很有可能与其竞争政策相冲突.随着贸易的自由化、市场全球化和一体化的发展,运用产业政策与贸易政策支持国内的产业发展受到越来越多的限制,反倾销法就是典型的体现.从反倾销法和竞争法的经济理论出发,分析了两者的潜在冲突,并试图指出解决反倾销法与竞争法之冲突的途径.     

Competition Law and the WTO: Rethinking the Relationship

This essay identifies obstacles to the inclusion of a competitionlaw regime in the WTO and suggests changes that are likely tobe necessary if competition law is to become an effective partof the WTO. Two obstacles have impeded inclusion of competitionlaw in the WTO's legal regime and are likely to continue todo so. They are (i) a lack of confidence that the norms, practicesand procedures of the WTO rest on a robust conception of communityand (ii) uncertainty and concern about what form of competitionlaw might be included and what its role in the WTO would be.In order to reduce the first of these obstacles, the institutionsand members of the WTO will need to develop a conception ofcommunity that engenders widespread confidence in the WTO'sbasic modes of operation. Eliminating the second obstacle wouldrequire clarification of the kind of competition law that wouldbe acceptable within the WTO, and this, in turn, is likely torequire development of a form of competition law that is specificallydesigned for the WTO and that can elicit the long-term supportof all categories of members. The essay suggests that the competitionlaw issue is intricately interwoven with the future of the WTO.The changes that would be necessary to introduce and successfullyimplement competition law in the WTO are to a large extent thesame as those that the institution will need to make if it isto enrich its role as an institution.     

M. Bogdan,Private International Law as Component of the Law of the Forum,Hague Academy of International Law,The Hague 2012, 352 pp. ISBN 978-90-04-22634-0.

Netherlands International Law Review -     

Socio-Cultural Differences and International Competition Law

The purpose of this study is to explore socio-cultural divergence¹ among contracting parties, members and potential candidates that could favour or complicate the establishment of an effective² set of common competition rules at World Trade Organisation (WTO) level. Therefore, the focus is on historical, religious, ideological and systemic differences in relation to competition rules that might otherwise be overlooked during the negotiations, but later prove crucial or even detrimental to the actual implementation of thus only formally common international rules.     

从竞争法角度看反倾销法律制度

反倾销法律制度是WTO法律体系中一项重要的法律制度 ,自GATT第 6条确立反倾销法律制度以来 ,许多国家都在国内制定和适用了反倾销法 ,但是随着贸易自由化的发展 ,反倾销法的滥用就成为一个现实的问题 ,于是就提出了是否要改革现有的反倾销法 ,以及如何进行改革的问题。试图从竞争法的角度来论证反倾销的不合理性 ,并指出了我国在未来的取舍     

Regulatory Competition: A Private International Law Approach

This article analyzes the regulatory competition model (RCM) from a private international law perspective. This perspective helps us identify and resolve two gaps in the standard explanation of the RCM. According to the standard explanation, two conditions must be fulfilled for the market of legal products to function well: (1) free movement of resources (persons, capital, and goods); (2) the absences of cross-border externalities. In relation to this second condition, the standard model argues that a uniform material rule is necessary to overcome cross-border externalities. The main thesis of this article is that a private international law approach can complete this model by adding two ideas. First, a smooth functioning of the market-of-legal products requires, not only the free movement of resources, but also a uniform private international law system which guarantees the autonomy of the parties (free choice of law) and the procedural implementation of this autonomy (free choice of forum and free movement of judgments). And second, a uniform material law, which wipes out the regulatory market, is not essential to deal with the externality problem; rather a uniform conflict-of-laws rule, which leads to the internalization of cross-border externalities by states, can correct at least some of the externalities problem and also maintains the regulatory market.     

均衡理念的竞争法分析

竞争法以实现市场主体利益均衡为理念,本质上是“市场利益分配法”。均衡理念包含市场内部均衡与外部均衡双重含义,可作为竞争法中“利益衡量”的准则,也要求竞争排除制度适度扩张。     

欧共体竞争法与成员国竞争法关系初探

由于均对各自适用范围做扩张性解释,因而欧共体竞争法与成员国竞争法在适用范围上不可避免地产生了重叠, 二者构成了一利双重控制体系。但这种双重控制体系又是有条件的双重控制体系,即当二者之间有冲突时,应以共同体竞争法的效力为优先。随着统一大市场的形成以及从属原则被确立为欧盟法的基本原则,这种双重控制体系面临瓦解的可能,在未来有必要对两套法律体系的适用范围进行重新划定,从而使其各行其是,互不干涉,而且预计成员国竞争法的地位会得到相应提升,并发挥其应有的作用。     

论知识产权法与反不正当竞争法的适用关系

将法律之间交叉领域的基本关系概括为一般法与特别法的关系以及一般法律竞合的关系,前者适用规则为特别法优先于一般法,后者当事人可自由选择适用.认为知识产权法与反不正当竞争法之间整体上不存在一般法与特别法的关系;就具体法条而言,大多数相关法条之间也不属于一般法规与特别法规的关系,应按照一般法律竞合处理两法交叉领域的法律适用问题,由当事人自由选择.如此总结知识产权法与反不正当竞争的关系,既能理顺并简化法律的适用,又能反映我国司法实践.     

贸易自由化与统一国际竞争立法

贸易自由化被视为实现经济发展的重要途径,二战后,在关贸总协定和WTO中,贸易自由化取得了巨大进展,关税处于历史性的低水平状态,其他非关税壁垒也得到进一步遏制,全球经济因此得到了进一步的发展.但即使所有的关税和非关税壁垒都被消除,如果反竞争行为得不到规制,就会成为阻碍国际贸易自由化发展的另一种形式的壁垒,使通过政府间谈判而开放的国际市场因企业的反竞争行为重新被相互关闭和封锁起来.为使全球经济福利和效率最大化,贸易自由化政策必须与其他领域内的法律特别是最为重要的竞争法共同发挥作用.然问题在于,在较为完善的国际贸易法制促进的国际贸易自由化的背景下,竞争法仍停留在各国各自为政以及双边和多边合作的阶段,缺少全球范围内的国际竞争法体制.因此,为了避免因反竞争行为而导致贸易自由化倒退,有必要在完善各国内竞争法的同时,加快国际统一竞争立法的进程,而在WTO框架下建立国际竞争法具有必要性、可行性和必然性.