Restrictive Agreements and Their Impact on the Market Comparative Legal Study))
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65263/e1h1c544Keywords:
(Restrictive agreements , Competition law , Market and competitive freedom , Horizontal and vertical agreements , Unfair competition action ) .Abstract
Restrictive agreements are among the most serious practices that undermine market freedom and distort the mechanisms of fair competition, as they involve deliberate coordination of economic behavior between independent undertakings in a manner that prevents, restricts, or affects the structure of competition. For this reason, competition legislations have given particular attention to such agreements due to their adverse effects on competitors, market structure, and the public interest.
This study provides a comparative legal analysis of restrictive agreements by examining their concept, conditions of existence, and distinguishing them from legally similar situations, particularly economic concentration and abuse of a dominant position. It also analyzes their principal forms, namely horizontal and vertical agreements, and assesses the impact of each on the freedom of competition within the market.
The research adopts an analytical and comparative methodology, based on the examination of legislative texts and doctrinal approaches under the Iraqi Competition and Anti-Monopoly Law No. (14) of 2010, the Egyptian Competition Law No. (3) of 2005 and its amendments, as well as French law, particularly Articles L420-1 et seq. of the French Commercial Code. The study discusses the standards used to limit restrictive agreements and adopts the effects-based approach as the most appropriate criterion for assessing their legality, given its consistency with the economic nature of competition law and its protective objectives, as opposed to focusing on the legal form of the agreement or the subjective intent of its parties.
Furthermore, the study examines judicial protection against restrictive agreements through an analysis of unfair competition actions as an effective legal mechanism to counter such practices, highlighting their legal basis, conditions, and effects, particularly remedies in the form of injunctive relief and monetary compensation.
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1-French Civil Code .
2-French Commercial Code.
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