For years Article 82 of the European Community Treaty–the provision that outlines improper conduct for companies with market dominance–languished in a state of uncertainty. Defined through a series of 30-year-old court cases, the article wasn’t the regulatory tool the modern-day European Commission wanted. Several years ago the authority decided to review Article 82 and focus its efforts on “exclusionary abuses”–company conduct that bars competitors from the market.
“[I]t is sound for our enforcement policy to give priority to so-called exclusionary abuses, since exclusion is often at the basis of later exploitation of consumers,” said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in a 2005 speech on Article 82 policy review. “I will therefore focus on exclusionary abuses.”
