COMPETITION • FRENCH LAW • RESTRICTIVE AGREEMENTS
Although express references to the actual context of an anticompetitive agreement are rarer than in European law, the French authorities also refer to context to assess the impact of the agreement on competition. The taking into consideration of the particular legal and economic context which led to the formation of a joint venture thus made it possible to call into question the finding of restriction by object of a price and market-sharing agreement. Conversely, in another case, the economic context characterized by the sharp increase in the price of an input did not make it possible to rule out a restriction by object in the adoption of a common method of passing on this cost, which was intended to make customers more easily accept price increases, insofar as there were solutions which were less restrictive of competition such as the implementation of individual increases.
The authorities also take into account the possible cumulative effect produced by the existence of parallel agreements.
