A firm is in a dominant position if it has the ability to behave independently of its competitors, customers, suppliers and, ultimately, the final consumer. A dominant firm holding such market power would have the ability to set prices above the competitive level, to sell products of an inferior quality or to reduce its rate of innovation below the level that would exist in a competitive market. Under EU competition law, it is not illegal to hold a dominant position, since a dominant position can be obtained by legitimate means of competition, for example, by inventing and selling a better product. Instead, competition rules do not allow companies to (v) abuse their dominant position. The European merger control system (v Merger control procedure) differs from this principle, in so far as it prohibits merged entities from obtaining or strengthening a dominant position by way of the merger. A dominant position may also be enjoyed jointly by two or more independent economic entities united by economic links in a specific market. This situation is called collective (or joint or oligopolistic) dominance. As the Court has ruled in the Gencor judgment, there is no reason, in legal or economic terms, to exclude from the notion of economic links the relationship of interdependence existing between the parties to a tight oligopoly within which those parties are in a position to anticipate each one another’s behaviour and are therefore strongly encouraged to align their conduct in the market.
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RO: Poziție dominantă
FR: Position dominante
HU: Erőfölény
