Assessment of exclusivity rebates under the Article 102 TFEU

Abstract

The thesis discusses the European Union decisional practice towards rebates that are granted by dominant undertakings and are conditional upon its customers obtaining all or almost all of their requirements from those dominant undertakings, known as exclusivity rebates. The thesis seeks to find any possible objective justifications that dominant undertaking can put forward to justify its exclusivity rebate conduct which is considered abusive by its very nature under Article 102 TFEU. The main focus of the thesis is Hoffmann-La Roche decisions which set standards that are applied by the Courts of the Union in exclusivity rebates cases since the latest decision in Intel case.