Research On The Monopoly Agreement Exemption System

The exemption system on monopoly agreement (exemption system for short) is an important system in anti-monopoly law. Nearly each country with an anti-monopoly law holds the exemption system, though the exemption system may be different. For example, collective exemption just exists in EU; Japan nearly holds no exemption system, while rule of reason is the criteria for justifying whether to exempt the monopoly agreement in USA. The purpose of the thesis is to point out the weak points of our own exemption system and provide some advice after some explanation, comparison and analysis of exemption systems in German, Japan, EU and USA.The whole thesis can be divided into four parts. The first part is about the basic theory on exemption system , including defining monopoly agreement and exemption, and the economic and legal basis for the exemption system. The author considers that exemption and exception are two different concepts and the main reason for the existence of the exemption system is positive influence's leading position above negative influence on the competition. In the second part, basic patterns of legislation of exemption system are concluded after doing some research on the relevant provisions of USA, German and Japan. The two basic patterns are specific-list pattern and abstract pattern. China's anti-monopoly law adopts a compound pattern, which accords to the national situation of China. The third part is the main body of the thesis. Not only the substantial content but also the specific procedures are included in this part. Exemption system on recession monopoly agreement, public interests monopoly agreement and export monopoly agreement are introduced, analyzed and assessed in the substantial minor part. A feasible procedure for the exemption system has also been put forward in the procedural minor part. As relevant provisions in anti-monopoly law in China to the three types of monopoly agreements mentioned in this thesis do have some deficiency, the author provides some advice after analysis and some research. As to the absence of the procedural provisions in China, a feasible design is put forward after referring to relevant provisions of some other countries or regions. The last part lifts the exemption system to a high level, considering that the different attitudes of countries or regions on the competition policy and industry policy can be the very reason for the difference of exemption system in different countries or regions. Meanwhile, the influence of competition policy and industry policy on the exemption system in China has also been analyzed. In the author's opinion, industry policy precedes competition policy in China, which may be the most important reason for the greater number of monopoly agreements that can be exempted.