Individual Sanctions for Competition Law Infringements: Pros, Cons and Challenges
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works Faculty Scholarship 2016 Individual Sanctions for Competition Law Infringements: Pros, Cons and Challenges William E. Kovacic George Washington University Law School, [email protected] Florian Wagner-von Paap University College London Faculty of Laws Autorite de la Concurrence Daniel Zimmer University of Bonn - Institut für Handels- und Wirtschaftsrecht; University of Bonn - Centre for Advanced Studies in Law and Economics (CASTLE) Andreas Stephan University of East Anglia (UEA) - Centre for Competition Policy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.gwu.edu/faculty_publications Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Wagner-von Papp, Florian and Viros, David and Zimmer, Daniel and Kovacic, William E. and Stephan, Andreas, Individual Sanctions for Competition Law Infringements: Pros, Cons and Challenges (May 17, 2016). Concurrences Review N° 2-2016, Art. N° 78515, pp. 14-44; GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 2016-26; GWU Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-26. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/ abstract=2782090 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in GW Law Faculty Publications & Other Works by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Concurrences REVUE DES DROITS DE LA CONCURRENCE | COMPETITION LAW REVIEW Individual sanctions for competition law infringements: Pros, cons and challenges On Topic l Concurrences N° 2-2016 l pp. 14-44 Introduction Florian Wagner-von Papp Reader in Law (Associate Professor), University College London (UCL), Faculty of Laws, London Individual criminal sanctions in France David Viros Chief of Staff, Head of International and European affairs, Autorité de la concurrence, Paris Individual sanctions in German competition law: The case for a criminalisation of antitrust offences? Daniel Zimmer Professor of Law, University of Bonn, Faculty of Law Director of the Institute for Commercial and Trade Law and the Center for Advanced Studies in Law and Economics (CASTLE) Criminal enforcement of competition law: Implications of US experience William E. Kovacic Visiting Professor, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London Global Professor of Competition Law, George Washington University Law School (on leave) Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority Is there public support for cartel criminalisation? Andreas Stephan Professor of Competition Law, Centre for Competition Policy and UEA Law School, University of East Anglia, Norwich Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2782090 On Topic Individual sanctions for competition law infringements: Pros, cons and challenges Introduction Criminal enforcement of competition law: Florian Wagner-von Papp Implications of US experience Reader in Law (Associate Professor), University College London (UCL), Faculty of Laws, London William E. Kovacic Visiting Professor, Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London Global Professor of Competition Law, George Washington University Law School (on leave) Individual criminal sanctions in France Non-Executive Director, United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority David Viros Chief of Staff, Head of International and European affairs, Autorité de la concurrence, Paris Is there public support for cartel criminalisation? Andreas Stephan Individual sanctions in German competition law: Professor of Competition Law, Centre for Competition Policy and UEA Law School, The case for a criminalisation of antitrust offences? University of East Anglia, Norwich Daniel Zimmer Professor of Law, University of Bonn, Faculty of Law Director of the Institute for Commercial and Trade Law and the Center for Advanced Studies in Law and Economics (CASTLE) ABSTRACT Suite à l’harmonisation des règles matérielles dans le cadre du règlement (CE) no. 1/2003, la Commission a Introduction récemment commencé à se pencher sur la question de l’harmonisation des règles de procédures et Art. Intellectuelle). Personal use of this document is authorised within the limits Intellectuelle and DRM protection. L. 335-2 Code de la Propriété L 122-5 de sanctions, alors que le Parlement européen a, en janvier 2016, demandé l’introduction de sanctions contre les personnes physiques. Ce dossier examine * l’état actuel des sanctions individuelles dans les États Florian Wagner-von Papp membres, fait état des difficultés institutionnelles [email protected] posées par ces sanctions individuelles en particulier à Reader in Law (Associate Professor), University College London (UCL), Faculty of Laws, London l’égard des programmes de clémence, et se penche sur les avantages et inconvénients de l’introduction de sanctions individuelles, en particulier de nature pénale. Ce dossier examine l’expérience de la France, de l’Allemagne, du Royaume-Uni et des États-Unis 1. Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 1/2003 aims at convergence of the substantive en matière de sanctions pénales et présente des competition laws in the Member States of the European Union. To be sure, données empiriques ayant trait aux attitudes du public substantial differences between Member States’ laws remain in the areas of unilat- dans différents États membres et aux États-Unis envers 1 les infractions au droit de la concurrence. eral conduct and merger control. Yet in the area of anticompetitive agreements, convergence has made great strides. National procedure and sanctions, however, Following the substantive harmonisation in Regulation 2 (EC) no. 1/2003, the Commission has started more were largely excluded from the convergence goal of Regulation (EU) 1/2003, and recently to focus on procedure and sanctions, and in on the matter of individual sanctions the recitals merely state that “as regards January 2016, the European Parliament called for natural persons, they may be subject to substantially different types of sanctions penalties against natural persons. This ‘On Topic’ issue 3 looks at the current state of individual sanctions on the across the various systems.” Member State level, examines the institutional challenges these individual sanctions present especially for leniency programmes, and discusses the pros and cons of introducing further individual, in particular criminal sanctions. This ‘On Topic’ issue examines the * I would like to thank Wouter Wils and Florence Thépot for helpful comments. experience with criminal sanctions in France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 1 For a criticism of the unilateral conduct exception to the convergence rule, see recently D. Hildebrand, Article 3 presents empirical evidence on public attitudes towards (2) in fine: Time for review, May 2015, Concurrences Review No. 2-2015, Art. No. 72323, www.concurrences. com. competition law infringements in various Member States and the United States. 2 National procedure and sanctions only appear in the periphery. See Art. 5, 12 Regulation (EU) 1/2003. 3 Recital 16 (in the context of the exchange of information under Art. 12 Regulation (EU) 1/2003). délit pénalement sanctionné jusqu'à 3 ans d'emprisonnement et 300 000 € d'amende (art. utilisation non autorisée constitue une contrefaçon, d'auteur par les conventions internationalesintellectuelle du 1er juillet 1992. Toute du droit en vigueur et le Code de la propriété au titre Ce document est protégé by copyright laws and internationalNon-authorised use of this document pouvant accompagner ce document. This document is protected copyright treaties. personnelle est strictement autorisée dans les limites de l’articletechniques protection L. 122 5 CPI et des mesures L. 335-2 CPI). L’utilisation constitutes a violation of the publisher's rights and may be punished by up to 3 years imprisonment € 300 000 fine ( 14 Concurrences N° 2-2016 I On Topic I Individual sanctions for competition law infringements: Pros, cons and challenges Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2782090 2. In the course of the review of Regulation 1/2003, 4. I am delighted that an outstanding panel of experts the European Commission has now turned its atten- has agreed to contribute to this issue. tion to these matters of national procedure and sanc- tions. In 2013, the then-Director General for Competi- 5. M. David Viros, Chief of Staff and Head of Interna- tion remarked that despite some voluntary convergence tional and European Affairs at the Autorité de la concur- toward a level playing field, bumps“ remain where proce- rence examines criminal enforcement against individuals dures and sanctions are concerned.”4 Instead of relying in France and the interface with administrative enforce- on soft convergence, the Commission considers intro- ment. He highlights some of the challenges, in particular ducing binding EU law,5 dubbed “Regulation 2” by the the interaction between criminal enforcement by public current Vice-President of the German Bundeskartellamt.6 prosecutors and leniency programmes administered by In May 2014, Vice-President Almunia announced that he the Autorité. intended “to set in motion a reflection on how the system has functioned so far and its future development” before 6. Professor Daniel Zimmer of the University of Bonn, the end of his mandate,7 and in July 2014, the Commis- former Chairman of the German Monopolkommission sion published its Communication “Ten Years of Anti- (“Monopolies Commission”), describes the practice of trust Enforcement