Rechtsfragen der wirtschaftlichen Haftungseinheit des europäischen Kartellbußgeldrechts

In European antitrust law the commission often holds the parenty company jointly and severally liable for wrongdoings of its subsidiaries by referring to the unwritten concept of an economic entity deriving from the term „undertaking“. The author analyses the history of imputing liability for infringements in European case law and concretises the economic entity’s shape. The author describes the problems emerging from the imputation and fining of two or more legal entities for purely structural reasons – particularly regarding the relationship between the jointly and severally liable companies, recidivism and the impact on actions for damages under national law. In order to establish a dogmatically correct imputing system the author suggests to contain the term of an economic entity and to reestablish a fault-based imputation.