Undergraduate Course: Fundamentals of EU Competition Law 2 (LAWS10295)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course examines three selected issues arising from the interplay between the rules on competition, contained in Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, and the principles governing the single market, especially the freedom of movement of goods and services. It will include:
- From the notion of restriction of freedom to trade to the concept of restriction of competition: the evolution in the approaches to the interpretation of Article 101 TFEU in light of the evolution of the single market;
- Parallel trade restrictions under the single market principles and under the EU competition rules;
- Intellectual property rights and the EU Treaties: from patent exhaustion to abusive refusals to license reconciling effective competition, free movement of valuable inventions and the genuine incentive to invest and innovate. |
| Course description |
- Introduction to the course: 'freedom of trade', economic freedom and freedom to conduct a business in EU law
- Restriction of competition in the case law of the CJEU from the 1960s to the European SuperLeague case
- Protecting the value of investment in competitive markets: media rights
- E-commerce, brand recognition and trademarks: AdWords, search engine and the integrity of brands
- IP licensing and competition law: a complex interaction the example of the pharmaceutical industries
- Article 102 TFEU and the new European Commission's guidelines
- E-commerce and competition law: platform markets and price parity clauses
- New approaches to the regulation of digital markets: the Digital Markets Act and ex-ante rules;
- Algorithms and Artificial Intelligence in digital markets: the debate on algorithmic collusion
Please note that classes for this course will be jointly taught with Masters level students. Although students at both levels will study the same course materials, assessments will be graded according to the relevant benchmark appropriate to the level of study.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | This course is only open to visiting students coming through a direct exchange with the School of Law (including Erasmus students on a Law-specific Exchange). Exchange students outside of Law and independent study abroad students are not eligible to enrol in this course, with no exceptions.
**Please note that 3rd year Law courses are high-demand, meaning that they have a very high number of students wishing to enrol in a very limited number of spaces.**
Priority will be given to students studying on exchange within the Law department, and it is highly unlikely that there will be additional spaces for general exchange students & independent study abroad students to enrol; we will look into this on a case-by-case basis in September/January. Visiting students are advised to bear in mind that enrolment in specific courses can never be guaranteed, and you may need to be flexible in finding alternatives in case your preferred courses have no available space.
These enrolments are managed strictly by the Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department, and all enquiries to enrol in these courses must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
Students must have passed European Union Law A (LAWS08125) or an equivalent course at their home institution. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% coursework |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify and discuss questions concerning the interaction between freedom to trade, genuine competition and the realisation of a single market
- Appreciate the changing approaches to competition law in the case law of the CJEU especially the more economic approach
- Examine issues arising from the interplay between competition, open markets and the protection of investment
- Discuss questions of competition and access to digital markets and appreciate the changing nature of regulation in this area
- Consider the impact of autonomous technologies on markets
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Reading List
Jones and Sufrin, EU Competition Law: text, cases and materials: OUP.
Whish & Bailey, Competition Law: OUP.
Ezrachi, EC Competition Law: an analytical guide to the leading cases: Hart.
Middleton, MacCulloch, Rodger and Galloway, Cases and Materials on UK and EC Competition Law: OUP.
Marco Colino, Competition Law of the EC and UK: OUP.
Graham, EU and UK Competition Law: Pearson. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Competition |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Arianna Andreangeli
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: a.andreangeli@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Emma Hughes
Tel: (0131 6)50 2008
Email: Emma.Hughes@ed.ac.uk |
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