Verbotsirrtum und Vertrauen auf Rechtsrat im Europäischen Wettbewerbsrecht (Error of Law and Reliance on Legal Advice in European Competition Law)

European competition law is complicated. The line between permitted and prohibited is often not clear when navigating the grey zones of the ban on cartels. To better cope with the legal risk, companies often seek internal or external legal advice. Incorrect advice however raises the question of legal consequences for a company mistakenly breaching competition law. This is the central point in a request for a preliminary ECJ ruling from an Austrian Court in which the Advocate General Kokott recently handed down her opinion. This paper examines the issue of legal advice in European competition law in detail and expands on the considerations regarding errors of law. Valuable illustrative material on the extent and boundaries of this "reliance defence" can be found not only in the rules governing fines for anti-competitive conduct in German and European competition law, but also in company law and particularly in the law on directors' and officers' liability. This article brings the criteria put forward in those areas, and seeks to help flesh out the minimum criteria proposed by the Advocate General. Please note that this is an article published in German