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

Patrice Bougette, Frédéric Marty and Simone Vannuccini

No 25-06, Working Papers AFED from Association Francaise d'Economie du Droit (AFED)

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, rendezvous 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: 35 pages
Date: 2025-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-com, nep-ind and nep-law
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http://afed.ovh/RePEc/afd/wpaper/AFED-WP-25-06.pdf Revised version, 2026-08 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Competition Law Enforcement in Dynamic Markets: Proposing a Flexible Trade-off between Fines and Behavioural Injunctions (2026)
Working Paper: Competition law enforcement in dynamic markets: proposing a flexible trade-off between fines and behavioural injunctions (2026)
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:afd:wpaper:2506

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