Definition of the Relevant Market

Immo Schuler
Feb 27, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Sep 25, 2024

On February 8, the European Commission published a revised notice on the definition of the relevant market

Since the publication of the notice on the definition of the relevant market in 1997, the economy, technology and competition have changed and developed enormously. With the revised Notice on market definition, the European Commission is trying to keep pace with digital markets, innovation markets and globalization.

Introduction

Market definition plays a central role in antitrust law. It serves to define the relevant market in which companies operate and compete with each other. This is important when examining mergers and in antitrust cases and helps competition authorities to assess whether mergers, acquisitions or certain business practices could restrict competition or dominate the market.

In light of the increasing digitalization and networking of global trade, the European Commission published a revised notice on the definition of the relevant market in February of this year.[1] The aim of the notice is to provide companies with greater transparency and legal certainty when assessing competition law.

New Developments

Among other things, the European Commission comments on the following points:

Recognition of non-price parameters such as innovation, quality, security of supply and sustainability. For example, so-called pipeline products can be part of an existing relevant market, depending on their intended use.
In the case of multi-sided platforms (such as Amazon or Facebook), the European Commission can either define a relevant product market for all products offered by a platform, or it can define separate relevant product markets for the products offered on each side of the platform.
Structural market changes (e.g. technological or regulatory changes) can be taken into account by the European Commission when defining the market if there are reliable indications that the expected structural changes are sufficiently likely to take place.

February 27, 2024

Immo Schuler, LL.M. (UNC)

Immo Schuler berät zu allen Fragen des deutschen und europäischen Kartellrechts.