Comparative Research On The European And Chinese Systems For The Respect Of Procedural Rights For Undertakings In Anti-Monopoly Procedure

1The Coca Cola Acquiring Huiyuan Case (the Huiyuan Case) has drawn lots of attention and comments on the procedural justice of China's anti-monopoly procedure over Concentration between undertakings. One year before the Huiyuan Case, in the judgments of Schneider Electric v. Commission (the Schneider Case), the European Court of First Instance held that an infringement of procedural rights might grant the undertakings concerned rights for compensations for the economic loss, which was regarded as the latest development of procedural rights for the undertakings in European competition law. Whether the procedural rights for undertakings are effectively respected has been a most significant touchstone for the justice of anti-monopoly procedure. As demonstrated in the thesis, the procedural rights for the undertakings are sound guarantees for guarding the interests of the undertakings, controlling the powers of the administration and assurance of procedural justice. Therefore, by comparison between the European and Chinese systems for the respect of procedural rights for undertakings, the author tries to find best ways to improve the Chinese system for the respect of procedural rights for undertakings within the Chinese legal environment.The introduction part of this thesis includes the background and research method of the thesis, and also a brief introduction of the research references. The first part of the thesis includes a discussion on the definitions of concentration between undertakings, anti-monopoly procedure and respect of procedural rights for undertakings; an analysis on the effect of concentration between undertakings on the market economy and the relationship between anti-monopoly and merger control; and a demonstration of the ration and legal basis for the respect of procedural rights for qualified undertakings. In the second part of the thesis, the European and Chinese systems for the respect of procedural rights for undertakings are comparatively analyzed, following respectively the introduction of the Huiyuan Case and the Schneider Case. The third part of the thesis mainly focus on the proposed ways for the improvement the Chinese system for the respect of procedural rights for undertakings within the Chinese legal environment, following a comparison between the characteristic of the European and Chinese systems for the respect of procedural rights for undertakings. The conclusion part makes a summary on the purpose and propositions of this thesis, which mainly aims at the continuous improvement of the Chinese anti-monopoly procedure for the concentration between undertakings.