*** MARIA BERGTRÖM, MARIOS IACOVIDES, MAGNUS STRAND (Editors): Harmonising EU Competition Litigation. The New Directive and Beyond. Hart Publishing (16C Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 517530 – fax: 510710 – Email: mail@hartpub.co.uk – Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). “Swedish Studies in European Law” series, No. 8. 2016, 343 pp. £54.99. ISBN 978-1-8494-6762-9.
The directive setting out certain rules for action claiming damages and interest following infringements to competition law will be operational within the Union on 27 December next. The directive was introduced by the European Parliament and Council in November 2014. This is why this book is so interesting, in addition to the fact that it provides an account of the seminar organised by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies in collaboration with the Faculty of Law at the University of Uppsala. The book also seeks to decode this directive because it was just a draft at this stage. In his forward, Carl Wetter, a judge at the European Court of Justice, points out that the new directive seeks to optimise interaction between private and public applications but is much less ambitious than the system prevailing in the US. He explains that this text therefore appropriately tries to strike a balance between, on the one hand, the protection of the successful public enforcement leniency programmes (which essentially allow immunity or fine reductions for voluntary confessions of cartel activities) and, on the other, the need of private parties to obtain disclosure of evidence in order to prove their case. Mr Wetter argues that this mission is largely accomplished by the legislators. The extremely pertinent analyses contained in this publication confirm the significant potential contained in the directive but also, as the book’s three editors point out in their preface, “the Directive has the potential to be contentious in certain crucial ways” and that the drafters of national legislation, and the lawyers and judges who will be called open to work with and to apply its rules, are equally unsure as to how best to transpose it into national law. This is why this book could prove to be a very valuable instrument in the several areas where it provides significantly important legal clarification. In the first part of the book, Professor Ulf Bernitz (European law at the University of Stockholm) begins by providing a succinct insight into what can be found in the directive. This is followed by his fellow legal practitioner, Alison Jones (Kings College London), who provides a comparison between US and European competition law. Interesting perspectives are provided in areas of philosophy and modalities contained in the two jurisdictions. In the follow-up, Lars Henriksson provides a Swedish perspective with regard to the effect on well-being stemming from the law on damages. Ingeborg Simonsson, a judge in Stockholm provides number of responses to the question of whether the directive will bring any added value, particularly with regard to its relationship with the judges in Luxembourg. The second part of the boxes three other specialists tackle the private application of European competition law and what can be expected from the new directive, in light of contextual angles such as, procedural autonomy or the insight provided by a lawyer specialising in intellectual property. Transparency, Leniency Programmes, and Human Rights is the title of the third part of the book, which those writing the preface and editing the book explain was “one of the most controversial subjects” during the seminar and which even led to some of the participants to frame the question in this perspective regarding possible limitations to the application of European competition law in the future. Professor Xavier Groussot and Justin Pierce are both lecturers at the University of Lund and they tackle the question of the relationship between private application and leniency programmes through the rules on the protection or disclosure of information from one process to another. The two other authors tackle this question by approaching the question of what law there should be for accessing documents, which is recognised by both the members of the cartel and their victims. Different experiences of private application in the practice of competition law in five member states (Finland, Greece, Netherlands, Poland and Portugal) are outlined in the fourth part of the book, whilst the final part of the publication focuses on the complexity of the estimation of harm. Particular attention focuses on the situation for the problematic position of indirect purchasers. The final word goes to the researcher, Marios Iacovides, who explores the relationship between the directive and a practical guide on the quantification of harm, and the doubts arising about the operational character of the latter. This book is obviously aimed at specialists in this area and will no doubt be very much appreciated by them. Pierre Bouvier
*** MATEJA DUROVIC: European Law on Unfair Commercial Practices and Contract Law. Hart Publishing (see address attached). “Modern Studies in European Law”, No. 62. 2016, 214 pp. £55. ISBN 978-1-78225-811-7.
A day does not go by without consumers finding themselves at the mercy of traders who are prepared to do anything to sell a product or service. Fortunately, European consumers have benefited from directive 2005/29/EC for the past ten years, which has provided strong and effective protection against unfair trade practices and set up a unified and coherent European legal framework for fair trading, through the abolition of all obstacles for cross border trade among Member States, as well as havings secured a sufficiently high and common level of consumer protection throughout the European Union. The problem is that this directive also has had to coexist with contract law, which is partially covered by European law and the partially covered under national competences. It is this ambiguous relationship that is tackled in an extremely detailed way in this book. This version has been reworked and added to with a doctoral thesis defended just under two years ago at the European University Institute of Florence, under the supervision of Professor Hans-W. Micklitz. Mateja Durovic is now a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong Law School. She divides this book into four concepts, which are effectively crossroad areas or domains in which the links and correlation between the law on trade practices and contract law are the most intense and appropriate. The first of these concepts involves the “average consumer”, chosen as the main benchmark for the assessment of the fairness of a commercial practice; the second reference point involves the concept of the “vulnerable consumer”. In this chapter, the author shows how this preferred benchmark is also applicable in the context of consumer contract law. The second concept studied involves “the duty to trade fairly”, which, on the other hand, is not included in cases involving consumer contracts. The third part focuses on the “duty of information” and which has been set as an absolute rule in the context of the directive, although it was treated in a rather ununiform and haphazard way in the context of contract law. Finally, the last part of the book examines “remedies”, a domain in which the directive has only introduced three rare rules. The conclusions drawn by the author are indeed interesting, as are all the other analyses in this book that have led to them. (MT)
*** ALAIN BELTRAN, ERIC BUSSIERE, GIULIANO GARAVINI (Editors): L’Europe et la question énergétique. Les années 1960/1980. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (& av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 3477236 – Email: brussels@peterlang.com – Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). « Enjeux internationaux » series, no. 41. 2016, 334 pp. €45. ISBN 978-2-8076-0030-0.
This book stems from a colloquy organised exactly three years ago at the University Padua. It focuses on a period of history that saw Europe change radically in the energy arena from the “great periods of growth” during the 1960s, which gave way to the oil crises that characterised the beginning of the 1970s and which ultimately characterised the periods of uncertainty during the 1980s and which still continue to this day. Headed by Alain Beltran (Director of research at the National Scientific Research Centre), Professor Eric Bussière (Université Paris-Sorbonne) and Giuliano Garavini (University of New York Abu Dhabi), the researchers contributing to this book provide a methodological clarification of these respective periods. In the first, some of them seek to verify the “abundance” of the 1960s in light of the “Golden oil years” and the behaviour of important market actors such as ENI in Italy and BP in the United Kingdom, as well as the declining coal industry in France, with the concomitant rise of nuclear power. In the second part, a number of other authors revisit the oil crises and their repercussions, as well as the action taken by Enrico Mattei, which is particularly scrutinised and the action by François-Xavier Ortoli during the Franco-Algerian oil negotiations in 1970 and 1971, it should also be pointed out that the contribution by Yves Bouvier (Université Paris-Sorbonne) focuses on “European rhythms in the French nuclear power industry”. Finally, six writers provide a scientific contribution that focuses on the changes and adaptations in the 1980s, which involved, for example, the expansion of oil production in the British North Sea and the increasing power of natural gas. Another interesting contribution includes the interview with Emmanuelle Ortoli and those in charge of the European Union’s historic archives and where the documents created by her father kept. She explains that these archives are indeed in Florence and not in France and also points out that they had been banking on the fact that her father’s European action would prevail. François-Xavier Ortoli had been a minister in the French government, followed by a stint as Vice President of the European Commission. She concludes this interview and this book at the same time with the following words, “As part of my sermon on the half of my saint, in other words, Europe, I would say that European countries have to speak with a single voice. None of our countries has sufficient weight for successfully defending their interests, which indeed are the common interests of Europe”. It is not certain that all the leaders who had been counting on Community Europe and its member states would have been sufficiently convinced, even though the editors of the book highlight the fact that the period examined helps to “at least provide the basis for solutions that were appropriate to the situation of the old continent”. (MT)
*** L'Europe en formation. Revue d'études sur la construction européenne et le fédéralisme – Journal of Studies on European Integration and Federalism. Centre international de formation européenne (« L’Adriatic », 81 rue de France, F-06000 Nice. Tel: (33-4) 93979397 – fax: 93979398 – Email: europe.formation@cife.eu – Internet: http://www.cife.eu ). 2016, No. 378, 240 pp. €20. Subscription €50.
This issue is not part of the usual chronicle. It involves a contribution from the veteran journalist and federalist, Jean-Pierre Gouzy, who examines current developments over the past few months. This journal was founded by the herald of federalism, Alexandre Marc and contains a feature article that invites the reader to “think about justice in the energy arena” in both Europe and Asia. It is an important subject that involves both continents, as pointed out by sociologist, François Bafoil, (Centre de recherches internationales de Sciences Po), the specialist in language sciences, Ferenc Fodor and political scientist, Rachel Guyet, who organised the colloquy and which formed the basis of this book. In this connection, it is also pointed out that 1.3 billion individuals on earth do not have any access to electricity and 2.5 billion have to rely on traditional biomass for heating and cooking. Most of these people are living in Africa and Asia but there are also around 54 million Europeans who are not spared from the phenomenon of “energy poverty”, which appears to be getting worse in the so-called rich countries. This explains why this very comprehensive dossier is of great interest and why the different visions in this connection appear in Asia and Europe with regard to the possible right to energy. The latter includes the right to a certain level of well-being, whereas in the former, it is perceived more as a right to growth. The different insights provided in this book on the prevailing situation in these parts of the world provide useful clarification on crucial issues relating to instruments for measuring the phenomenon of energy insecurity, the profile of the people affected and the differences in the country and cities; The role of public policies and the variety of ways for tackling the lack of energy access. Finally, the territorial dynamics and increasing polarisation in the two regions are also examined. (MT)