CASES IN ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION

The course primarily aims at providing students with an adequate understanding of the legal and economic principles of national and EU competition law, equipping them with the tools necessary to carry out a sound assessment of firms’ conduct from an antitrust law perspective. A core objective of the course, pursued through the casebased analysis of national and EU proceedings concerning cartels, abuses of dominance and mergers, is also to foster students’ ability to identify and critically address the main legal and economic issues underlying the application of national and EU antitrust law.

Independent judgement Students are expected to be able to independently formulate wellreasoned observations with regard to practical cases, legislative texts, administrative decisions and, more generally, matters relating to antitrust law. This is to be achieved through research and collection of relevant information relating to the practical cases submitted, mainly functional to the development of debates in which students can present their own personal observations. Communication skills Students are expected to be able to engage effectively in discussions relating to antitrust law, both during the final oral examination and through classroom debates, making appropriate use of the technical terminology required by the matter. Learning skills Students are expected to have developed adequate learning skills enabling them to approach the study required both for the analysis of practical cases presented during the course and for the final oral examination in a selfdirected and autonomous manner.

Basic economic notions Article 101(1) and 101(3) TFEU Theory of harm: collusion Horizontal agreements Theory of harm: softening competition/unilateral effects Vertical agreements Article 102 TFEU Abuse of dominance Theory of harm: foreclosure Mergers Relevant market and unilateral effects in mergers Cases

R. Whish, D. Bailey, Competition Law, Oxford University Press, 2024 M. Motta, Competition Policy: Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press, 2015 Materials / papers / presentations / mock questions / resumes of the practical cases to be analyzed and discussed during the course sessions

Lectures / analysis of practical cases / interactive discussions / individual exercises / collaborative works / assignments / guest lectures.

The assessment procedure is based on a grading scale out of thirty points and consists of two distinct components: (i) discussion of the practical cases addressed during the lectures, in which each student is required to participate and which is worth a maximum of 10 points per student; (ii) a final written exam, worth an overall maximum of 20 points per student. The written exam is a closedbook exam and is structured as follows: (i) one scenariobased question, aimed at testing the ability to address and structure the solution to a hypothetical case (for example, by identifying a possible line of defense in an antitrust investigation) - this component is worth an overall maximum of 10 points; (ii) one section with ten multiplechoice questions, aimed at assessing the general understanding of competition policy from both a legal and an economic perspective - this component is worth an overall maximum of 10 points. The final grade will be calculated as the sum of the scores obtained in the assessment components mentioned above.

Effective attendance of the course, examination grade, overall grade average and personal motivation.