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The role of EU competition law in health care and the ‘undertaking’ concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2020

Johan W. van de Gronden  and
Mary Guy Open the ORCID record for Mary Guy [Opens in a new window]
Johan W. van de Gronden
Affiliation:
Professor of European Law, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
Mary Guy*
Affiliation:
Lecturer in Law, Lancaster Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: m.guy2@lancaster.ac.uk
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Abstract

Part of the controversy surrounding competition and health care stems from the complexity connected with delineating the applicability of competition law – encompassing both the provisions governing anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominance and the state-aid rules. Cases determined at the European Union (EU) level within the past 30 years have developed a broad framework, and notable trends have emerged – for example, a distinction between health care providers and managing bodies (purchasers). The former have been subject to an ‘abstract’ test and the latter to a more sophisticated ‘concrete’ test. In this paper, we chart the development of the EU courts’ approach to developing the ‘undertaking’ concept in health care and examine the current EU competition law framework with a view to identifying future directions. van de Gronden has recently identified a ‘three-prong’ test of exemption from competition law in connection with the recent CEPPB case: firstly, where the supply of services is predominantly dependent upon public financing; secondly, the public funding aims to achieve a public interest goal and thirdly, the activities concerned are closely related to this public interest goal. We examine this test in a health care context, drawing on our findings regarding Dutch competition reforms.

Keywords

EU health lawEU health policyhealthstate aid
Type
Article
Information
Health Economics, Policy and Law , Volume 16 , Special Issue 1: SPECIAL ISSUE: The future of EU health law and policy , January 2021 , pp. 76 - 89
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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