Module Identifier
LAM6910
Module Title
THE REGULATION OF BUSINESS CARTELS IN EUROPE
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Professor Christopher S P Harding
Semester
Semester 1

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment One assignment of 5,000 words  Learning outcomes 1,2,3,4,5  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Display a knowledge and understanding of the concept of the business cartel and its economic and legal significance.
2. Display a knowledge and understanding of the process of legal regulation and the challenges facing such regulation in this context of business activity.
3. Critically evaluate the strategies and processes pertaining to the regulation of business activity at different legal levels and across jurisdictions.
4. Display an ability to gain access to the relevant literature and materials in this field and how to use them in a critical discussion of the subject.
5. Present critical and well-informed argument regarding the problems of achieving legal regulation of a sector of business activity.

Brief description

Rationale:
The module will enable students to study the subject of cartel regulation at a postgraduate level through the distance learning format. This will increase the availability and opportunity for studying this subject especially for a range of potential students already in employment in relevant areas of business and the regulatory sector. The module deals with a significant area of regulation of business activity in the European context and so provides a study of one of the most important contemporary models of such regulation.

Brief Description:
This module will provide an introduction to the policy and practice of regulating the activities of business cartels and an account of how this area of regulation has developed in the European context. It will introduce the concept of the business cartel and the arguments concerning the need for legal intervention in this area. The principal models of regulation (North American and European) will be discussed and the earlier phase of regulation in European national legal systems in the first half of the twentieth century considered. A detailed account of the development of cartel regulation in the context of the EC/EU during the second half of the twentieth century will provide the core area of study, addressing the emergence of the idea of the business cartel as a delinquent organization and the main challenges to regulators in achieving an effective regulation and control of cartel activities.

Content

1. The concept of the business cartel and the mode of operation of such cartels.
2. The application of competition policy to the activities of business cartels and the economic arguments relating to their operation.
3. Principal models of legal control: a comparison of North America and European approaches.
4. The earlier phase of European regulation: national legal systems during the first half of the C 20.
5. Business cartels in the context of the European Single market and the underlying assumptions of EC regulation.
6. The development of EC regulation 1970 to the present, presenting an overview of Commission strategies and their legal review by the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance.
7. An assessment of the present state of regulation under EC law.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Through the study and analysis of quantitative research and data.
Communication Through the presentation of information and argument in written answer to questions.
Improving own Learning and Performance Through the independent study of the subject at a distance.
Information Technology Through the application of IT as an essential medium of learning, teaching and study.
Personal Development and Career planning Through a process of independent learning and use of the study and qualification for purposes of career development.
Problem solving Through the examination and discussion of actual and hypothetical examples of regulatory practice and methods
Research skills Through the detailed study at advanced level of literature, legal material and research findings on the subject.
Subject Specific Skills This module provides students with the opportunity to identify, analyse, evaluate and practice a series of skills with respect to Business Cartels.
Team work Team working skills will be encouraged and developed in group activities and discussions at the residential study schools.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7