The Object Identity

In its recent case-law, the Court of Justice has sought to bring further clarity to the concept of restriction by object. Today a finding of object by the competition authority creates a rebuttable presumption that conduct is anticompetitive. This analytical framework applies to both Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. On the one hand, this serves to place the burden of proof in the hands of the defendant, the party best able to explain that its conduct is competition on the merits. On the other hand, al