EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

Prague, Czechia

Such a strong focus on economically oriented objectives led to the establishment of the doctrine (Zimmer, 2012; Lianos, 2013) on primary goals of the competition law of the EU being oriented around the effective allocation of resources on the markets, fair pricing, and consumer welfare, sometimes dubbed as the “orthodoxy” of the EU competition law (Weatherill, 2014a, p. 203, Weatherill, 2014b, p. 283). However, the question of whether the focus of the competition law of the EU should still be limited mainly to the economic objectives is looming over the European scholars due to the numerous challenges faced by European societies in the 21 st century – climate change, the rise of digital markets and social media, global pandemics, and – last but not least – transnational power of private bodies. Against this background, this paper seeks fitting responses in the relatively overlooked field of the European economy and of the application of the provisions of the competition law of the EU – sports. Secondly, the paper aims to use the example of the application of the provisions of the competition law of the EU to sports to support the thesis that the non-economic objectives may enrich the competition law of the EU with the constitutional dimension defined as counterbalancing the transnational normative power of the monopolistically positioned sports governing bodies (SGBs) and increase the level of protection of fundamental rights of individuals. 2. Problem Formulation and Methodology Therefore, the problem faced by attempting to formulate an answer to the question on non-economic objectives of the competition law of the EU is mostly related to the existence of a sound legal basis for such an argument. Scholars seeking for other-than-economic aims of public policy that should be pursued through the application of the provisions of the competition law of the EU may struggle to indicate the articles of the TFEU or TEU or relevant case law of the CJEU to identify these aims. Therefore, the method adopted by the author of this paper is based on the traditional legal research – literature review, analysis of the case law of the CJEU, and the interpretation of the provisions of the TFEU and TEU. 3.1 Non-economic objectives of application of the EU competition law provisions in the field of sports In literature, it is increasingly often observed that the competition law of the EU may play a significant role in the fulfilment of socio-cultural objectives (Claassen, Gerbrandy, 2016, pp. 1–15; Van Rompuy, 2012). The challenges named in the introduction – climate change, the threat of social media for democracy, consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic – are among the most frequently analysed fields in this respect (Cseres, 2019, pp. 1–8; Kozak, 2021, pp. 118–129). Sports is 3. Analysis and Problem Solution

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