Competition Law Enforcement in Dynamic Markets: Proposing a Flexible Trade-off between Fines and Behavioural Injunctions

Patrice Bougette, Frédéric Marty and Simone Vannuccini

No 2025-32, GREDEG Working Papers from Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France

Abstract: In prohibition decisions concerning abuses of dominance, competition authorities typically combine monetary fines, which deter anticompetitive conduct, with behavioural injunctions, which aim to restore competitive conditions. Yet the long-term effectiveness of such injunctions is often undermined by design flaws, strategic circumvention, and technological or competitive change. Focusing on the EU context, we propose a two-tier sanctioning framework that preserves deterrence while introducing ex post flexibility: an immediate baseline fine combined with a conditional component that is activated when behavioural obligations are lifted prematurely or fail to achieve their intended effects. We formalise this mechanism in a stylised model that yields a transparent switching condition and discuss its institutional implementation through trusteeships, rendezvou} clauses, and judicial review. Our proposal enhances both the credibility and adaptability of competition-law remedies without weakening deterrence, while clarifying the circumstances under which fines and injunctions should operate as complements or, alternatively, as substitutes, in dynamic markets.

Keywords: Abuses of dominant position; fines; behavioural injunctions; market dynamics; incentives (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: K21 L41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2025-07, Revised 2026-06
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http://195.220.190.85/GREDEG-WP-2025-32.pdf Revised version, 2026-06 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Competition Law Enforcement in Dynamic Markets: Proposing a Flexible Trade-off between Fines and Behavioural Injunctions (2025)
Working Paper: Competition Law Enforcement in Dynamic Markets: Proposing a Flexible Trade-off between Fines and Behavioural Injunctions (2025)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gre:wpaper:2025-32

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