Prohibition of Parallel Imports as a Hard Core Restriction of Article 4 of Block Exemption Regulation for Vertical Agreements: European Law and Economics

Zevgolis, Nikolaos and Fotis, Panagiotis (2011): Prohibition of Parallel Imports as a Hard Core Restriction of Article 4 of Block Exemption Regulation for Vertical Agreements: European Law and Economics. Published in: Journal of Advanced Research in Law and Economics , Vol. II, No. 2(4) (7 March 2012): pp. 162-174.

Abstract

This paper attempts to highlight the main principles of Competition Law (regulatory and case law framework) covering the prohibition of parallel imports and to reveal the main effects of it on the competitive structure of the market. Especially, the regulatory framework relates Block Exception Regulation 330/2010 with Block Exception Regulation 461/2010 in order to determine whether prohibition of parallel imports constitutes a hardcore restriction or not, while the economic analysis evaluates it in a vertical market with few suppliers & buyers which sell goods to the final (domestic) consumers. The results indicate that the prohibition of parallel imports by upstream sellers cause vertical restraints to the domestic customers of the buyers. In any case, this paper focusing mainly on consumer welfare, does not necessarily link parallel imports with the notion of parallel trade and/or parallel exports as well as it does not provide the pros and cons of parallel trade.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Antitrust Law, Vertical Restraints, Block Exception Regulation, Market Imperfection, Consumer Nondurables, Repeated Games of Oligopoly Theory
• Subjects: K - Law and Economics > K2 - Regulation and Business Law > K23 - Regulated Industries and Administrative Law; K - Law and Economics > K2 - Regulation and Business Law > K21 - Antitrust Law; D - Microeconomics > D4 - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design > D43 - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C7 - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory > C73 - Stochastic and Dynamic Games ; Evolutionary Games ; Repeated Games

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