Antitrust: Restraint: Economic rationale

Swiss Competition Commission opinion (in German): Competition: Unfair competition: Antitrust:

Presumption of restraint: Rebuttal: Agreement harms competition significantly: Sufficient justification (i.e. economic efficiency):

When the presumption of restraint (horizontal) is successfully rebutted, an agreement can still be deemed to be against the law if it harms competition significantly without sufficient justification (i.e. economic efficiency).

Agreements described in Art. 5 al. 3 Swiss Cartel law are, in the first step of the analysis, per se harming competition, except if the harm is capable of being qualified as a trifle.

Rechtfertigung aus Effizienzgründen

Wettbewerbsabreden, welche den wirksamen Wettbewerb nicht beseitigen, jedoch erheblich beeinträchtigen, sind gemäss Art. 5 Abs. 2 KG durch Gründe der wirtschaftlichen Effizienz gerechtfertigt, wenn sie (…)

(Verfügung vom 30. Oktober 2017, RPW 2018/1,104 Rz 172, Verzinkung)