Aims

This course offers an overview of the main areas of EU economic law: EU internal market law and EU competition law. It deals with principles, legislation and case law, and policy questions. Participants also learn to work with the relevant legal sources: the EU Treaties, the secondary law, the case law of the General Court (the GC) and the Court of Justice of the EU (the ECJ), and the decisional practice of the European Commission.

Competition law

Ever increasing cartel fines, sometimes accompanied by criminal sanctions, and the perspective of multi-billion euro private damages actions have made companies and individuals much more aware of competition law and the risks of ignoring it. In fact, competition law determines our lives much more than we realize. It has a direct impact on, among others, the availability, pricing and distribution of consumables, and on the degree of liberalization of economic sectors. More importantly, it helps establishing the economic identity of a society. The 'workable competition' approach and the weight attached to services of general interest certainly help determine the economic identity of the European Union (the EU). From an EU lawyer's point of view, European competition law moreover functions as a 'laboratory' for other areas of European law: important new developments in EU law, especially regarding judicial protection, are often first 'tested' in the competition law field.

This course focuses on cartels, abuse of dominance, and merger control, as well as their enforcement in an ever more digitalised world.

Internal market law

Whereas competition law traditionally applies to companies, internal market law scrutinizes the economic behaviour of Member States. In order to realize a true internal market, the EU Treaties guarantee four ‘fundamental freedoms’ or ‘economic freedoms’, each ensuring that cross-border movement within the EU is not unduly restricted. In this course, the main focus is on the free movement of goods, as well as the free provision of services and the freedom of establishment. Whereas these principles have proven to be the foundation of a single market, new challenges constantly appear, including servitization of the (platform) economy, the threat of economic nationalism and the horizontalisation of economic freedoms.

Can European cities regulate the negative consequences of the growing sharing economy? Are Member States allowed to discriminate, in order to preserve the environment? These and other real life questions will be studied in this course, highlighting why internal market law is rapidly expanding into new areas of EU and national law.

Previous knowledge

No previous knowledge required.

Is included in these courses of study

• Master in de handelswetenschappen (dag + avond, programma voor studenten gestart vóór 2024-2025) (Brussel) 60 ects.
• Master of Business Administration (Brussels) 60 ects.
• Courses for Exchange Students Faculty of Economics and Business (Brussels)
• Master in de handelswetenschappen (programma voor studenten gestart in 2024-2025 of later) (Brussel) 60 ects.