Unpacking price–cost tests for conditional and multi-product rebates in EU Competition Law

Oliver März and Chi Trieu co-authored a two-part article on applying price–cost tests to conditional and multi-product rebates under EU Competition Law. Rebate schemes remain one of the most contested areas in EU abuse-of-dominance enforcement, and correctly applying the as-efficient competitor principle is rarely straightforward. Drawing on case precedent, the authors set out how the test should be adapted depending on whether a rebate is single-product or bundled, and on the specific competitive circumstances at play.

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Abstract

In this article, we bridge the gap between existing high-level guidance and real-world application by providing practical guidance for implementing price–cost tests for conditional and multi-product rebates. Compared to existing guidance, our contribution is three fold: first, we describe three alternative test formulations used in practice; second, we provide formulas for each version depending on data availability; and third, we review relevant case precedents to illustrate implementation challenges and discuss possible solutions.