Pagrindindinės koncentracijų vertinimo taisyklės Europos Bendrijos ir Lietuvos Respublikos konkurencijos teisėje

Abstract

This article analyses whether the EC, US and Lithuanian legal tests for the assessment of market concentration are suitable to evaluate different types of concentrations of undertakings. The analysis of this issue is important, because fairness of the legal assessment depends on the suitability of the legal test used. The textual analysis of the test of “Significant Impediment to Effective Competition” (“SIEC”), the test of “Dominance” of the EC and the test of “Substantial Lessening of Competition” (“SLC”) of the US, and comparative analysis of their application in practice leads to a conclusion that the SIEC test is more appropriate to assess the level of market concentration than the “Dominance” test. Like the SLC test, the SIEC test can be applied to assess all kinds of harms to competition, without losing the advantages of the “Dominance” test. The introduction of the SIEC test resulted in variations of concentration assessment in the EU member states. The SLC test is applied in the UK; the majority of member states apply the “Dominance” test, whereas the SIEC test is applied by the EC. This variation hardly facilitates harmonization of the competition law in the EU; therefore, the Commission expects that the member states will adjust their national law accordingly. It seems that the Lithuanian rule has also been amended with the intention to adjust national regulation to that of the EC. It is regrettable though that this has not been done properly.