La Sentencia INTEL (As. T-286/09) reenv. del Tribunal General de la Unión Europea, del 26 de enero de 2022¿una nueva era en la aplicación del artículo 102 TFUE?

  1. Fernando Díez Estella
Revista:
Revista de derecho de la competencia y la distribución

ISSN: 1888-3052

Ano de publicación: 2022

Número: 30

Tipo: Artigo

Outras publicacións en: Revista de derecho de la competencia y la distribución

Resumo

En el ámbito del Derecho de Competencia en la UE hay pocos preceptos tan complicados de aplicar como la prohibición de abuso de posición dominante contenida en el actual art. 102 TFUE. El enfoque que la Comisión Europea estaba adoptando en sus expedientes sancionadores ha sido constantemente objeto de feroces críticas, por considerarlo excesivamente legalista y formalista, y que adoptaba una perspectiva per se de la prohibición, contraria al moderno análisis económico antitrust. Una manifestación de este enfoque fue la cuantiosa multa en el año 2009 (más de 1.000 millones de euros) a la compañía INTEL por supuestas prácticas abusivas en sus políticas de descuentos. Trece años después, el pasado año 2022, en un histórico pronunciamiento, el Tribunal General de la UE (TG) ha anulado por completo la Decisión de la CE, y sentado las bases de un nuevo entendimiento de este precepto. En particular, se plantea la aplicación del test del “competidor tan eficiente” (conocido como AEC test, por sus siglas en inglés) como herramienta analítica para determinar si una concreta política de precios o descuentos tiene la capacidad de provocar un efecto de cierre del mercado (foreclosure). En este trabajo se analiza esta Sentencia, sus antecedentes y las sustanciales implicaciones que tiene en cuanto al conocido como “more-economic-approach” del derecho antitrust comunitario.

Referencias bibliográficas

  • AHLBORN, C. y PICCININ, D. (2015): «The Intel judgment and consumer welfare — a response to Wouter Wils», Competition Law & Policy Debate, 1(1), pp. 60-75.
  • AKMAN, P. (2010): «The European Commission’s Guidance on Article 102 TFEU: From Inferno to Paradiso?», Modern Law Review, 73 (4), pp. 605-630.
  • BOUTIN, A. y BOUTIN, X. (2018): «The as efficient competitor test: back to facts», Symposium: AEC test post-Intel, Competition Law and Policy Debate, 4 (2), pp. 51-63.
  • CLARKE, J. (2017): «The Opinion of AG Wahl in the Intel Rebates Case: A Triumph of Substance over Form?», World Competition, 40 (2), pp. 241-270.
  • COLANGELO, G. y MAGGIOLINO, M. (2018): «Intel and the Rebirth of the Economic Approach to EU Competition Law», International Review of Intellectual Property and Competition Law, Volume 49, pp. 685 — 699.
  • DE CONINCK, R. (2018): «The as-efficient competitor test: some practical considerations following the ECJ Intel judgment», Competition Law & Policy Debate, 4 (2), pp. 73-80.
  • DE CONINCK, R. (2018): «The role of the as-efficient competitor test post-Intel», Competition Law & Policy Debate, 4 (2), pp. 23-24.
  • DE GHELLINCK, E. (2016): «The As-Efficient-Competitor Test: Necessary or Sufficient to Establish an Abuse of Dominant Position?», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 7(8), pp. 544-548.
  • DÍEZ ESTELLA, F. (2010): «¿Qué queda del nuevo enfoque de la prohibición del abuso de posición dominante en la UE? Comentario a la Decisión INTEL, de 13 de mayo de 2009», Revista de Derecho de la Competencia y la Distribución, n.o 7.
  • FERNÁNDEZ, C. (2019): «Presumptions and Burden of Proof in EU Competition Law: The Intel Judgment», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 10(7), pp. 448-456.
  • GERADIN, D. (2010): «Is the Guidance Paper on the Commission’s enforcement priorities in enforcing Article 102 TFUE useful?», en ETRO, F. y KOKKORIS, I. (eds.). Competition Law and the Enforcement of Article 102, Oxford University Press, pp. 37-52.
  • GERADIN, D. (2015): «Loyalty Rebates After Intel: Time for the European Court of Justice to Overrule Hoffmann-La Roche», Journal of Competition Law & Economics, 11 (3), pp. 579-615.
  • GERADIN, D. (2016): «The Opinion of AG Wahl in Intel: Bringing Coherence and Wisdom into the CJEU’s Pricing Abuses Case-Law», TILEC Discussion Paper No. 2016-034, Tilburg Law School Research Paper No. 18/2016.
  • GIPPINI-FOURNIER, E. (2010): «The Elusive Standard of Proof in EU Competition Cases», World Competition 33, no. 2, pp. 187 a 207.
  • GIULIO, F. (2011): «The Antitrust Treatment of Loyalty Discounts in Europe: Towards a more Economic Approach», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 277-284.
  • HAJNOVICOVA, R., NGOC-LAN, L, y USAI, A. (2019): «Exclusivity Agreements and the Role of the As-Efficient-Competitor Test After Intel», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, Vol. 10, n.o. 3, pp. 141-158.
  • IBÁÑEZ COLOMO, P. (2016): «Beyond the more economics-based approach: a legal perspective on Article 102 TFEU case law», Common Market Law Review, 53 (3), pp. 709-740.
  • IBÁÑEZ COLOMO, P. (2016): «Post Danmark II: The Emergence of a Distinct 'Effects-Based' Approach to Article 102 TFEU», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 7(2), pp. 113-115.
  • IBÁÑEZ COLOMO, P. (2017): «AG Wahl in Intel, or the value of realism and consistency in the context of Article 102 TFEU», Concurrences Review, 1, pp. 21- 24.
  • IBÁÑEZ COLOMO, P. (2018): «The Future of Article 102 TFEU after Intel», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 9 (5), pp. 293-303, n.o 296.
  • KADAR, M. (2019): «Article 102 and Exclusivity Rebates in a Post-Intel World: Lessons from the Qualcomm and Google Android Cases», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 10 (7), pp. 439-447.
  • KHOO, S. (2018): «Advocate General Wahl’s Opinion in Intel Corporation Inc. v European Commission: blurred lines and false dilemmas?», European Competition Law Review, 39 (2), pp. 92-97.
  • KRAFFERT, F. (2019): «How the Intel case changed our understanding of the objectives of EU competition law», European Competition Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 1, pp. 136-152.
  • KÜHN, K-U. y MARINOVA, M. (2018): «The role of the ‘as efficient competitor’ test after the CJEU judgment in Intel», Symposium: AEC test post-Intel, Competition Law and Policy Debate, 4 (2), pp. 64-72.
  • MARCO COLINO, S. et al. (2017): «Intel: Analysing the Advocate General’s opinion», Concurrences No 1-2017, pp. 16-25.
  • MONTI, G. (2018): «Abuse of a Dominant Position: A post-Intel calm?», Competition Policy International, Antitrust Chronicle, March 2019, pp. 2 a 7.
  • NEVEN, D. (2017): «The Advocate General’s opinion in Intel: More consistent enforcement across practices and instruments», Concurrences Review, 1, pp. 25-27.
  • NIHOUL, P. (2014): «The Ruling of the General Court in Intel: Towards the End of an Effect-based Approach in European Competition Law?», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 5(8), pp. 521-530.
  • NIHOUL, P., CHARBIT, N. y RAMUNDO, E. (2017): «Choice: A new Standard for Competition Law Analysis?», Concurrences No 4-2017, Art. N.o 85110, pp. 234.
  • O' DONOGHUE, R. y PADILLA, J. (2006): The Law and Economics of Article 82 EC. Oxford: Hart Publishing, Capítulo IV.
  • ORTIZ BLANCO, L. y AZOFRA PARRONDO, A. (2017): «The INTEL case: issues of economic analysis, comity and procedural fairness», Competition Policy International, n.o 3, November 2017.
  • PEEPERKORN, L. (2015): «Conditional pricing: Why the General Court is wrong with Intel and what the Court of Justice can do to rebalance the assessment of rebates», Concurrences Review, 1, pp. 43-63.
  • PETIT, N. (2016): «Rebates and article 102 TFEU: The European Commission’s duty to apply the Guidance Paper», Competition Policy and Law Debate, Vol. 2, Issue 1, March 2016, pp. 4 a 16.
  • RATO, M. y DAVILLA, M. (2018): «The court’s ruling in Intel: Towards a modern application of Article 102 TFEU based on sound economic principles», Concurrences, n.o 1, pp. 23 a 28.
  • REY, P. y VENIT, J. (2015): «An Effects-Based Approach to Article 102: A Response to Wouter Wils», World Competition, 38(1), pp. 3–30.
  • ROUSSEVA, E. and MARQUIS, M. (2012): «Hell Freezes Over: A Climate Change for Assessing Exclusionary Conduct Under Article 102 TFEU», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 4 (1), pp. 32-50.
  • TEMPLE LANG, J. y O’DONOGHUE, R. (2005): «Defining Legitimate Competition: How to Clarify Pricing Abuses under Article 82», Fordham International Law Journal, 83.
  • USAI, A. (2014): «The Intel Case: Between Tomra Systems ASA, the Commission's Guidance on Enforcement Priorities, and the alleged infringement of procedural requirements — no fat left on the bone», European Competition Law Review, 35(8), pp. 387-401.
  • VENIT, J. (2014): «The Intel judgment, File Access, and Confidentiality in EU Competition Cases: Has the Time for Reform?», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 5(10), pp. 681-692.
  • VENIT, J. (2014): «Case T-286/09 Intel v Commission — The Judgment of the General Court: All Steps Backward and No Steps Forward», European Competition Journal, 10 (2), pp. 203-230.
  • WAELBROECK, D. (2002): «Michelin II: A Per se Rule against Rebates by Dominant Companies?», 1 Journal of Competition Law and Economics 149.
  • WHISH, R. (2014): «Intel v. Commission: Keep Calm and Carry on!», Journal of European Competition Law & Practice, 23 November, pp. 1-2.
  • WILS, W. (2004): «The Combination of the Investigative and Prosecutorial Function and the Adjudicative Function in EC Antitrust Enforcement: A Legal and Economic Analysis», World Competition 27 (2), pp. 201 y ss.
  • WILS, W. (2015): «The judgment of the EU General Court in Intel and the so-called ‘more economic approach’ to abuse of dominance», World Competition, 37 (4).