Liberal or Learned? European and US Antitrust Approaches to the Professions
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Description
The recent European interest in bringing antitrust enforcement to the professions mirrors a recent (as well as long-standing) antitrust enforcement interest in the US. Although the legal issues in both systems are, in some sense, similar, the legal analyses used by the courts in Europe and in the US are different. Whatever the differences in legal analyses, however, the judicial results in the two systems actually end up being distressingly similar and, from my point of view, distressingly wrong. This essay focuses on three recent cases decided by the European Court of Justice that involve the legal issues raised in enforcing antitrust law against the professions—Wouters, Arduino, and Fiammiferi—and a comparison of those cases with similar cases in the US. The essay begins with some general observations about applying antitrust to the professions. The next part of the essay discusses the three European Court of Justice cases. The essay then explores how the legal issues decided in those cases have been handled by the US Supreme Court. The essay concludes with some comparison of the two systems, arguing that both have given too much deference to professional regulation.
Source Publication
European Competition Law Annual 2004: The Relationship Between Competition Law and the (Liberal) Professions
Source Editors/Authors
Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, Isabela Atanasiu
Publication Date
2006
Recommended Citation
First, Harry, "Liberal or Learned? European and US Antitrust Approaches to the Professions" (2006). Faculty Chapters. 615.
https://gretchen.law.nyu.edu/fac-chapt/615
