Die Behandlung von tacit collusion im europäischen und deutschen Kartellrecht

Firms in an oligopoly are able to implicitly coordinate their conduct and reach the market results of a cartel without entering into an explicit cartel agreement. There is a divergence of views as to whether tacit collusion can even be identified without ambiguity and differentiated from competitive behaviour. This work analyses economic approaches to identify tacit collusion and in the following examines to what extend tacit collusion is covered by the provisions of competition law. It outlines the consideration of coordinated effects in the area of merger control as well as the controversy regarding “concerted practices” within the cartel prohibition. However, the main emphasis is a potential abuse of collective dominance based on tacit collusion.