Single economic unit and probatio diabolica – is there something new under the sun?

Jeden organizm gospodarczy i probatio diabolica – czy jest jeszcze coś nowego pod słońcem?

The paper delves into two rudimentary concepts of the EU competition law, namely single economic unit doctrine and probatio diabolica whereby the EU enforcers and court are able to impute liability to parent companies whenever subsidiaries perpetrate anticompetitive delict. This topic is elaborated with reference to the CJEU case law. Moreover, seminal Directive 1/2019 is included. A range of aspects of the single economic unit doctrine are examined in order to double check whether this incumbent concept is truly valid. The observations are carried out through the prism of legal requirement, responsive corporate governance and regulatory expectations. Thereby the public and private facets are dissected. The paper’s insights capture managers’ perspective as well. Final part provides proposals to the law or its interpretations that are addressed to lawmakers and agencies/courts as well as recommendations for the companies to ensure alignment with the current state of this fragment of competition law.

Artykuł zgłębia dwa podstawowe pojęcia prawa konkurencji UE, mianowicie doktrynę jednolitej jednostki gospodarczej oraz probatio diabolica, dzięki którym organy egzekwujące prawo UE i sądy mogą przypisywać odpowiedzialność spółkom dominującym, gdy spółki zależne dopuszczają się naruszeń antykonkurencyjnych. Temat ten został rozwinięty w odniesieniu do orzecznictwa Trybunału Sprawiedliwości Unii Europejskiej. Ponadto uwzględniono przełomową Dyrektywę 1/2019. Przeanalizowano szereg aspektów doktryny jednolitej jednostki gospodarczej w celu weryfikacji, czy to ugruntowane pojęcie jest rzeczywiście zasadne. Rozważania prowadzone są przez pryzmat wymogów prawnych, odpowiedzialnego ładu korporacyjnego oraz oczekiwań regulacyjnych, przy czym rozróżniono aspekty publiczne i prywatne. Wnioski z artykułu uwzględniają także perspektywę menedżerów. W części końcowej przedstawiono propozycje zmian w prawie lub jego interpretacji, skierowane do prawodawców oraz organów i sądów, a także rekomendacje dla przedsiębiorstw, mające na celu zapewnienie zgodności z aktualnym stanem tego fragmentu prawa konkurencji.

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