Underprissättningens identifieringsteorier - EG:s konkurrensrättsliga mångtydighet

Predatory pricing is one of the most frequently discussed topics in competition law and should be considered both from a legal and economic perspective. The concept of predatory pricing can be described as a situation where a company is pricing at a level that, according to the assessment theories, is unreasonably low. The problems with this type of conduct arises when the low prices hinder competition. A company which uses predatory pricing will likely deter rivals entry to the market or drive the existing ones out of it. In the long run, the effects on competition will likely be higher prices which will hurt customers and consumers as well as competition. Assessing predatory pricing is not easy. The critical issue for EC law is to distinguish healthy competition from predatory conduct. In its assessments, the European commission and the courts, use certain cost benchmarks to determine whether a price is to be seen as predatory or not. The aim of this paper is to illustrate predatory pricing and find an explanation to why EC law is ambiguous in assessing predatory pricing. In this paper Article 82 of the EC Treaty will be described, followed by an overview of the economic considerations behind low prices. Thereafter, the main theories on how to assess predatory pricing will be described in the light of relevant case law. Concluding the discussion, the development of different assessment theories will be analyzed, as will the importance of economic considerations when investigating predatory pricing and the different approaches used to clarify the assessment theories and their applicabilty concering certain cases and industries.