Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy

Xiaowen Tan

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy

Xiaowen Tan

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 1)

Received: 22 December 2020 Accepted: 5 January 2021 Published: 15 January 2021

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Abstract

In EU competition law, presumptions are widely used for reasons of efficiency. However, the legal mechanism for the establishment and application of presumptions in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not always support efficiency. Instead, the fact that CJEU not only considers the systematic concept of presumptions per se, but also takes into account the full effect of EU law and any directly applicable general legal principles renders the establishment and the application of presumptions unpredictable and sometimes inconsistent. This phenomenon owes largely to the CJEU’s contextual approach in interpreting EU law and the fragmentary nature of this approach. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon, this article first explores the operation of presumptions in EU competition law; second, through concrete examples, it examines the Court’s approach to establishing and applying the presumptions; third, it identifies the potential impacts of the Court’s contextual approach on the enforcement of EU competition law. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Court’s interventions in presumption-related issues have blurred the boundary between substantive and procedural law, and thus risk narrowing the principle of national procedural autonomy. The Court’s approach also presents challenges for the current system of decentralised enforcement of EU competition law by national courts.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 4, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
Page(s)	1-9
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Presumptions, EU Competition Law, Case Law, Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy

References

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Xiaowen Tan. (2021). Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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Xiaowen Tan. Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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AMA Style

Xiaowen Tan. Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11,
  author = {Xiaowen Tan},
  title = {Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210401.11},
  abstract = {In EU competition law, presumptions are widely used for reasons of efficiency. However, the legal mechanism for the establishment and application of presumptions in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not always support efficiency. Instead, the fact that CJEU not only considers the systematic concept of presumptions per se, but also takes into account the full effect of EU law and any directly applicable general legal principles renders the establishment and the application of presumptions unpredictable and sometimes inconsistent. This phenomenon owes largely to the CJEU’s contextual approach in interpreting EU law and the fragmentary nature of this approach. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon, this article first explores the operation of presumptions in EU competition law; second, through concrete examples, it examines the Court’s approach to establishing and applying the presumptions; third, it identifies the potential impacts of the Court’s contextual approach on the enforcement of EU competition law. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Court’s interventions in presumption-related issues have blurred the boundary between substantive and procedural law, and thus risk narrowing the principle of national procedural autonomy. The Court’s approach also presents challenges for the current system of decentralised enforcement of EU competition law by national courts.},
 year = {2021}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy
AU  - Xiaowen Tan
Y1  - 2021/01/15
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
AB  - In EU competition law, presumptions are widely used for reasons of efficiency. However, the legal mechanism for the establishment and application of presumptions in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not always support efficiency. Instead, the fact that CJEU not only considers the systematic concept of presumptions per se, but also takes into account the full effect of EU law and any directly applicable general legal principles renders the establishment and the application of presumptions unpredictable and sometimes inconsistent. This phenomenon owes largely to the CJEU’s contextual approach in interpreting EU law and the fragmentary nature of this approach. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon, this article first explores the operation of presumptions in EU competition law; second, through concrete examples, it examines the Court’s approach to establishing and applying the presumptions; third, it identifies the potential impacts of the Court’s contextual approach on the enforcement of EU competition law. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Court’s interventions in presumption-related issues have blurred the boundary between substantive and procedural law, and thus risk narrowing the principle of national procedural autonomy. The Court’s approach also presents challenges for the current system of decentralised enforcement of EU competition law by national courts.
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Xiaowen Tan

Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai, China

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Xiaowen Tan. (2021). Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. International Journal of Law and Society, 4(1), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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Xiaowen Tan. Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. Int. J. Law Soc. 2021, 4(1), 1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

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AMA Style

Xiaowen Tan. Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy. Int J Law Soc. 2021;4(1):1-9. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11,
  author = {Xiaowen Tan},
  title = {Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {4},
  number = {1},
  pages = {1-9},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20210401.11},
  abstract = {In EU competition law, presumptions are widely used for reasons of efficiency. However, the legal mechanism for the establishment and application of presumptions in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not always support efficiency. Instead, the fact that CJEU not only considers the systematic concept of presumptions per se, but also takes into account the full effect of EU law and any directly applicable general legal principles renders the establishment and the application of presumptions unpredictable and sometimes inconsistent. This phenomenon owes largely to the CJEU’s contextual approach in interpreting EU law and the fragmentary nature of this approach. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon, this article first explores the operation of presumptions in EU competition law; second, through concrete examples, it examines the Court’s approach to establishing and applying the presumptions; third, it identifies the potential impacts of the Court’s contextual approach on the enforcement of EU competition law. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Court’s interventions in presumption-related issues have blurred the boundary between substantive and procedural law, and thus risk narrowing the principle of national procedural autonomy. The Court’s approach also presents challenges for the current system of decentralised enforcement of EU competition law by national courts.},
 year = {2021}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Presumptions in EU Competition Law: Blurring the Substantive-Procedural Dichotomy
AU  - Xiaowen Tan
Y1  - 2021/01/15
PY  - 2021
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
T2  - International Journal of Law and Society
JF  - International Journal of Law and Society
JO  - International Journal of Law and Society
SP  - 1
EP  - 9
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2640-1908
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20210401.11
AB  - In EU competition law, presumptions are widely used for reasons of efficiency. However, the legal mechanism for the establishment and application of presumptions in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union may not always support efficiency. Instead, the fact that CJEU not only considers the systematic concept of presumptions per se, but also takes into account the full effect of EU law and any directly applicable general legal principles renders the establishment and the application of presumptions unpredictable and sometimes inconsistent. This phenomenon owes largely to the CJEU’s contextual approach in interpreting EU law and the fragmentary nature of this approach. To have a better understanding of this phenomenon, this article first explores the operation of presumptions in EU competition law; second, through concrete examples, it examines the Court’s approach to establishing and applying the presumptions; third, it identifies the potential impacts of the Court’s contextual approach on the enforcement of EU competition law. The article seeks to demonstrate that the Court’s interventions in presumption-related issues have blurred the boundary between substantive and procedural law, and thus risk narrowing the principle of national procedural autonomy. The Court’s approach also presents challenges for the current system of decentralised enforcement of EU competition law by national courts.
VL  - 4
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download