A comparative study of oligopoly control in the UK, US and EU legal systems with particular reference to the Maltese legal system

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to discuss oligopoly control from a comparative point of view with the aim of considering the best and most appropriate mechanisms to be implemented in the Maltese Competition Act. In this case the comparative analysis encompasses a brief analysis of UK, EU and US competition law regimes. Chapter 1 defines oligopolies as being those market structures drifting between monopoly and perfect competition. Chapter 2 establishes how oligopolies and oligopolistic industries are actually defined in UK, US and EU Competition law. In US law oligopolies feature as shared monopolies or joint monopolies. In UK law firms having 25% market share, not being a group of interconnected companies could be considered oligopolies. In EU law an oligopolistic industry could be formed by a cluster of oligopolies. Chapter 3 explains oligopoly control and the form it takes. Oligopoly control in Chapter 3 features as a group of norms which monitor oligopolistic structure and conduct to keep oligopolists competing using their competitive energies to improve products and to lower costs rather than to restrict inter-firm competition and to erect entry barriers, preventing unnecessary concentration through merger control. Chapter 4 deals with collective dominance. Chapter 4 proves that the best definition of collective dominance so far is given in EU competition law through the CMB case. Chapter 5 deals with the problem of merger control. This Chapter focuses on the problem of oligopolistic dominance and the way it is tackled in US, UK and EU law. EU law is undoubtedly the jurisdiction which is committed at dealing with oligopolistic dominance through merger control. However, in Chapter 5 we find that the Anglo-American approach to merger control is more stable. Yet, in Chapter 5 it is concluded that the best approach to merger control of oligopolies is through a combined approach of US,UK and EU merger law. Chapter 6 concerns the behavioural control of oligopolies. In this Chapter it is concluded that the best behavioural approach is that followed by EU law. The last Chapter concerns proposed reforms in the Maltese Competition Act. In this regard the crux of the proposal is precisely the suggestion of reform concerning merger law and an introduction in to our law of a system similar to the complex monopoly reference within the UK legal system.