Competition Law - Master

Masteremne

Emnebeskrivelse

Mål og innhald

The aim of this course is to provide the students with a thorough knowledge in EU/EEA Competition law and public procurement law. The central subjects in this course are 1) TFEU art. 101 containing the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices, 2) TFEU art 102 containing the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position, 3) the rules on enforcement and sanctions (mainly found in EU regulation 1/2003).

The Course also aims to provide the students with an understanding of how the competition rules, mainly aimed towards private parties, also may affect the Member States of the EU/EEA.

By the end of the course, students should have thorough knowledge of substantial EU/EEA competition law regarding anti-competitive agreements and abuse of a dominant position. In addition, students will have knowledge on provisions regulating the enforcement the EU/EEA competition rules.

The course will give the students a fundamental understanding of terms, problems and basic principles and legal concepts used in EU/EEA Competition Law. This will also give the students the same understanding of national competition law, as those often are harmonized with EU/EEA Competition Law. The students will hence learn about a specific part of EU/EEA Substantial law which is also an integral part of national law.

Læringsutbyte

Knowledge

By the end of the course the students shall be able to

  • Describe the concept of Undertaking in EU and EEA competition law
  • Describe and explain the concepts of agreements, concerted practices and decisions by associations of undertakings in article 101 TFEU and article 53 EEA.
  • Describe and explain when agreements or other forms of collaborations restrict competition, in particular when they have as their object to restrict competition.
  • Explain when anti-competitive agreements may fulfill the conditions in article 101(3) TFEU and article 53(3) EEA and are exempted from the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, and additionally be able to discuss whether agreements contributing to public policy goals - such as sustainability - should be exempted from the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements.
  • Describe and explain the concept of a dominant position in Article 102 TFEU/Article 54 EEA
  • Describe and explain what type of conducts which may amount to an abuse of a dominant position.

Skills

By the end of the course the students shall be able to

  • Identify, based on a set of facts (a case) which part of EU/EEA Competition Law which is applicable, which conditions in the relevant provisions that are relevant for solving the case, and interpret the relevant conditions.
  • Apply the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements in Article 101 TFEU/Article 53 EEA on specific cases, including being able to identify when a set of facts will amount to a violation of the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements.
  • Apply the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position in Article 102 TFEU/Article 54 EEA on specific cases, including being able to identify if a conduct performed by a dominant undertaking amount to a abuse of a dominant position.
  • Explain the goals of competition law.
  • Cooperate with law students from other countries, and gain perspectives on common legal challenges from students from a legal background different than their own.
  • Contribute with perspectives from their own country and legal background.

General Competence

The students shall achieve the competence to

  • Apply EU and EEA case law to interpret and apply the competition provisions in EU/EEA law
  • Solve competition cases by applying EU and EEA legal sources.
  • Communicate and discuss competition law issues with national and EU-based lawyers.
  • Present and evaluate legal analyses and points of view in English, both orally and in writing.

Studiepoeng, omfang

10 ECTS

Studienivå (studiesyklus)

Master

Undervisningssemester

Autumn

Undervisningsstad

Faculty of Law, University of Bergen
Krav til forkunnskapar
Three years of law studies.
Tilrådde forkunnskapar
Good level of English language.
Studiepoengsreduksjon

Combined with JUS258-2-B Competition Law or JUS2309 Competition Law this course will generate no new credits.

This course combines well with

JUS2301/JUS3501 Free movement under EU and EEA market law

JUS2315/JUS3515 EU and EEA public procurement law

JUS2302/JUS3502 EU and EEA State Aid Law

JUS330-A EEA moot court competition

Krav til studierett

The course is available for the following students:

  • Admitted to the five-year master programme in law
  • Admitted to the two-year master programme in law
  • Admitted to the Master of Laws (LLM) in EU and EEA Law
  • Granted admission to elective courses at the Faculty of Law
  • Granted additional right to study following completed Master in Law degree at UiB
  • Exchange students at the Faculty of Law

The pre-requirements may still limit certain students¿ access to the course.

Arbeids- og undervisningsformer

Lectures and mandatory seminars.

The seminars will be about solving competition cases and consist of teaching and discussion about how to write decisions solving a case. There will be a total of three seminars. The first two seminars will be of one hour each, while the third and final seminar will be of 2 hours. In the first seminar the topic is identifying which rules that are applicable to a case and identifying the relevant conditions/criteria in the rules. The topic for the second seminar is interpretation of the conditions which are relevant for a given case, in particular how to use case law in the interpretation, and to interpret conditions in manner relevant for the specific case. The topic for the third seminar is to apply the relevant provisions and conditions to a case, or in other words how to write the discussion part of a decision, leading up to a conclusion.

The format of all the seminars will be the same. Before the seminar the students will submit a short text related to the topic for the seminar. The texts will be subject to student per review. Before the seminar the texts and comments will be used by the teacher as part of the preparation of the seminar. Some of the text will be used as examples in the seminars.

The goal of these seminars is to provide teaching which will make the students able to acquire the skills mentioned in the learning outcome above. Based on these seminars the students will be well equipped to solve a case in the final home exam.

Obligatorisk undervisningsaktivitet
Compulsory attendance on the three seminars which are aimed specifically at master level students, and compulsory writing assignments in relation to the seminars.
Vurderingsformer

Case based home exam.

Exam language:

  • Question paper: English
  • Answer paper: English
Karakterskala
A - E for passed, F for failed.
Vurderingssemester

Autumn

Students who do not pass the examination may re-sit in the following semester when the result is due to

  • legitimate reason for non-attendance (see Section 3-4, paragraph 3 b ii in the Supplementary Regulations for Studies at the Faculty of Law at the University of Bergen)
  • failed result

For rules regarding voluntary re-sit, (see Section 3-4, paragraph 1 c.)

Litteraturliste
The reading list will be ready 1 July for the autumn semester.
Emneevaluering
According to the administrative arrangements for course evaluation at the Faculty of Law.
Hjelpemiddel til eksamen
Programansvarleg
The Academic Affairs Committee (Studieutvalget) at the Faculty of Law is responsible for ensuring the material content, structure and quality of the course.¿
Emneansvarleg
Professor Ronny Gjendemsjø
Administrativt ansvarleg
The Faculty of Law's section for students and academic affairs (Studieseksjonen) is responsible for administering the programme.