Konstantinos Sidiropoulos is a doctoral researcher in competition law and a tutor in EU law and competition law at the University of Oxford. He is working under the supervision of Professor Stephen Weatherill, exploring the influence of the constitutional and institutional peculiarities of the EU on the concept of abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU. At the seminar, Konstantinos Sidiropoulos will present part of his doctoral thesis.
From a constitutional perspective, the content of Article 102 TFEU has to be determined through analysis of its role in the scheme of the Treaties. In this context, it responds to multiple goals and policy considerations arising from EU’s wider aims. Turning to the institutional framework, the complex institutional relationships within and between the different institutions responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of Article 102 TFEU, as well as the intricate processes of decision-making in the EU, give rise to an enforcement philosophy with particular characteristics, which are sensible and ensure uniform and predictable results throughout the expanding EU insofar as the employed tests for the assessment of potentially abusive practices under Article 102 TFEU remain simple. In this respect, more economic analysis should be injected into the assessment of abusive practices only to the extent that this is translated into workable rules that are consistent with fundamental rule-of-law principles and the goals assigned to Article 102. Ultimately, the approach to Article 102 TFEU is a political choice that reflects the peculiar constitutional and institutional setting of the EU legal order.
Konstantinos Sidiropoulos holds degrees from the University of Athens (LLB) and the University of Oxford (MJur and MPhil in Law), and is currently a scholar of the Onassis Foundation. He has previously been an editor at the Oxford Business Law Blog, and still holds the academic position of convenor of Oxford’s EU Law Discussion Group. Furthermore, he has practised law in Athens, where he is a qualified lawyer and a member of the Athens Bar Association. Finally, Konstantinos recently joined the Legal Service’s competition team of the European Commission.
When: Friday, February 15, 12-13 (coffee and sandwiches will be served from 11:30)
Where: Stockholm University, Universitetsvägen 10, C-house, 9th floor, Ifim-library
Moderator: Associate Professor Claes Granmar, Stockholm University
WELCOME!