Duration
36h Th
Number of credits
| Master in law (120 ECTS) | 5 crédits | |||
| Extra courses intended for exchange students (Erasmus, ...) (Faculté de Droit, de Sciences politique et de Criminologie) | 5 crédits |
Lecturer
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
Teaching in the first semester, review in January
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
This course addresses the entire range of EU competition law issues. The first part deals with anticompetitive agreements (Article 101 TFEU) and abuse of dominance (Article 102 TFEU) and their enforcement. The second part deals with merger control.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
This course is designed to awaken students to the challenges of a key area of European policy and business law, competition law and provide the expertise to detect, in the professional life, potential problems related to this particular subject matter. At the end of the course, students are able to solve complex and facts-based case studies and to propose a solution that is both pragmatic and realistic. Students also gain a critical view of legislative and doctrinal sources.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Basic knowledge of EU law is preferred
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Online ex cathedra modules and practical exercise sessions in a face-to-face setting. Those exercises prepare for the exam.
A Q&A board will be made available on eCampus.
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
In 2020-2021, this course will be taught in English.
Covid-19 has a significant impact on our traditional ways of teaching. In an attempt to minimise the risk of contamination and to allow the level of education you are entitled to to proceed in accordance with the rules and guidelines issued at University and Government(s)' level, this course will be organised partially online and partially in a face-to-face setting.
More specifically, the traditional ex cathedra lectures will be replaced by online modules. Those modules will consist in Powerpoints, audiocomments and, if applicable, video messages, made available on the eCampus platform. Modules will comprise of a maximum of 8 hours of materials and will be made available at the beginning of the week. The advantage of this way of proceeding is that you have the opportunity to plan your week accordingly and follow the different presentations within a given module at your own convenience.
The online modules will be complemented by face-to-face sessions, during which you will be divided in two groups. One group (Group A) will take the session on Wednesday from 10.30 to 12.00, the other (Group B) will do so on Friday from 14.00 to 15.30. The Friday sessions will be podcasted, with the disclaimer that this will only be the case if the podcast equipment functions appropriately.
Module 1 : Competition, competition law and European competition law? (online module, available via eCampus in the week beginning 28 September)
- Why competition law ?
- Why EU competition law ?
- The structure of EU competition law
- The general scope of application of EU competition law
Module 2 : art. 101 TFEU - restrictive anticompetitive practices, including cartels (online module, available via eCampus in the week beginning 19 October)
- Agreements, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices
- Restrictions by object and effect
- Block exemptions
- Voidness of restrictive contracts and decisions
- Individual exceptions - art. 101(3) TFEU
- Enforcement of art. 101 TFEU
- Summary of art. 101 TFEU
Face-to-face practical exercise in the week beginning 9 November: art. 101 TFEU (II)
Module 3 : art. 102 TFEU - abuse of a dominant position (online module, available via eCampus in the week beginning 16 November)
- Determining the existence of a dominant position
- The concept of abuse in EU competition law
- Justifications of abusive behaviour
- Abuse and online platforms
- Enforcement of art. 102 TFEU
Module 4 : concentration control- Regulation 139/2004 (online module, available via eCampus in the week beginning 30 November)
- Why concentration control ?
- Scope of application of Regulation 139/2004
- Notification procedures
- Substantive assessment of notified concentrations
Organisational adjustments related to the current health context
From code orange onwards, face-to-face sessions will be replaced by online classes or podcasts. More information will be communicated via eCampus.
The open book exam will take place online, via eCampus. More specific instructions on downloading the exam questions and uploading the exam answers will be communicated via this platform.
Recommended or required readings
A series of articles written by the course instructor will be made available to students enrolled in this course.
Assessment methods and criteria
Below you will find information on the evaluation methods planned for in-person and remote exams as well as those planned for hybrid sessions. Depending on how the health crisis evolves, the chosen method will be communicated to you no later than one month before the start of the exam session.
Any session :
- In-person
written exam
- Remote
written exam ( open-ended questions )
- If evaluation in "hybrid"
preferred remote
Additional information:
Open-book examination, either in a classical written exam format or online (via eCampus) depending on the circumstances relating to the current pandemic.
The exam will consist of 3 questions:
A practical case covering the subject-matter of the course: 10 points
A theoretical question, testing your knowledge of concepts and terms: 4 points
A question containing three true-false hypotheses: 6 points
Practice questions will be offered throughout the semester.
Work placement(s)
Organizational remarks
Please register for the course on eCampus to have access to relevant course materials and online lectures
Contacts
Professor:
pieter.vancleynenbreugel@uliege.be
Assistants:
jerome.decooman@uliege.be
sandrine.mathieu@uliege.be