TILEC Seminar: Christian Bergqvist (University of Copenhagen)

Christian Bergqvist will share observations on EU's Google Shopping Decision and the bigger picture it fits into. The case is currently pending before the General Court and provides a window into the concept of abuse. Not only by being the first platform case to reach the General Court, testing Article 102's ability to police the Gig-economy, but also by providing ample opportunity to compare EU and US antitrust enforcement and discuss the object of competition law. In the US, no case (initially) came about following the FTC's 2013 decision to close its file in stark contrast to the billions doled out in fines in EU. However, the cases differ, as EU utilizes a (slightly) different theory of harm, downplaying the self-favoring in favor of malicious discrimination. Christian Bergqvist believes this was a conscious decision taken by the EU Commission in 2015 to revitalize the case and secure a formal decision as self-favoring in isolation falls short of Article 102. Moreover, the Decision, jointly with the Google Android and Google AdSense Decisions, not only relates to Google's control over online advertisement and the very significant revenue this represents but also reopens the old discussions on the object of competition law of if this should be broader than the consumer welfare.

Speaker: Christian Bergqvist (University of Copenhagen)

Christian Bergqvist specializes in EU Competition Law, with a particular interest in its application to deregulated and network tied sectors (telecom, energy, post and transport) and abuse of dominance in general and within these sectors. Christian Bergqvist has extensive experience in competition law as an academician and practitioner. Before becoming a full-time academician serving 5 years as a lawyer at a Tier 1-law firm, representing clients before the judicial and administrative bodies, on competition law matters.

Host: Giorgio Monti

* For more information regarding this event please contact M. van Genk ,  24 hours before the event at latest.