The application of antitrust law to State actors is a controversial issue in competition laws worldwide. The resolution commented in this paper analyzes an specific case regarding the sourcing of pharmaceuticals and other medical products by health regional authorities in Castilla-La Mancha. In...

The enforcement of State aid prohibition in the current economic crisis provides a good example of threats faced by competition policy. At first sight one may think that state aid control by the EC Commission could become an easy 'victim' of the economic crisis due to the current multiplication...

This brief note reviews the judgments on antitrust law delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the last two years and provides a concise reference to the issues examined in each of them. It also gives a general overview of the effects that they may have in the stare decisis doctrine and in...

The exemption of application of antitrust prohibitions when they are introduced in legislative rules is established in the new Defence Competition Act 15/2007, of July 3rd 2007, in similar terms to those contained of the prior Defence Competition Act 16/1989. The drafting of section 4 of Defence...

The interface and coordination of securities regulation of tender offers, merger review proceedings set up by competition law and any other bodies of sectoral regulation potentially applicable to a given transaction is a key issue in governing modern markets. Indeed, Securities Regulation,...

Inherent Defects Insurance (IDI) for new housing buildings is mandatory in Spain since May 2000. The instauration of this legal requirement prompted an upsurge in the IDI market. Being confronted with wild competition, the major insurance carriers active in that market promoted a minimum price...

This paper estimates the average effect of regulatory intensity and administrative redtape on productivity and innovation. For this purpose we exploit the exogenous variation of the decentralization process that has taken place in Spain during the last three decades. Using objective proxies for...

(WPE 18/03 Clave pdf) La muerte y lo que la rodea no resulta nada atractiva. Esta circunstancia afecta de modo inexorable a las condiciones de contratación en el mercado de los servicios funerarios. Los condicionantes emocionales, religiosos y culturales afectan poderosamente al juego de las...

(WP 13/03 Clave pdf)The Spanish university system has witnessed many changes. Initial conditions for competition were laid down in 83, specially through the recognition of legal status to private universities. However, the shortage of students since 98 and the drop on demand for higher education...

El comercio minorista está sometido a regulación estatal, autonómica y local. El marco establecido por la Constitución de 1978 ha llevado a una creciente intervención y regulación de las comunidades autónomas, dando lugar a una notable diversidad regulatoria en todo el Estado. El Tribunal...