Comparative study of agreements between competitors: the rule of reason: towards a method of analysis of EU and US competition law.

Summary Comparative study of agreements between competitors in EU and US competition law based on the analysis of the Federal Trade Commission and US Department of Justice guidelines (2000) and the European Commission guidelines (2001). This study has two objectives. First, to define the legal framework for analyzing agreements between competing companies in each legal system, applying it to the case of cooperation agreements in the refined petroleum products distribution sector. Secondly, to understand to what extent the American and Community competition authorities arrive at similar solutions while maintaining their own method of reasoning: if there is indeed a Community rule of reason, it cannot be equated with the American rule of reason.