Corporate Human Rights Protection in EU Competition Law Enforcement - The Standard of Protection of Companies’ Rights in the Light of ECHR

Abstract: The present master thesis concerns the standard of protection of companies’ rights in Europe within the field of EU Competition Law. The main question asked is whether the EU competition law enforcement proceedings are in compliance with the standard of protection of companies’ rights set by the Strasbourg Court, or shall there be more safeguards provided for the companies in the EU in order to make the standard equivalent to that of the ECtHR’s jurisprudence in case the EU accedes to the ECHR or even without the accession. For the question to be answered, firstly the general overview of a current relationship between the EU and the ECHR and respective commentaries will be provided in the introductory part. Secondly, the existing approach taken by the European Court of Human Rights will be discussed in details, this will be done by touching upon the Article 6 ECHR and the case law of the ECtHR related thereto within the context of competition proceedings. Thirdly, the way the issue of applicability of Article 6 ECHR and surrounded matters are approached within the EU will be discussed; moreover, the paper will address the existing legislative framework in relation to the European Commission’s role in competition law enforcement with the main focus on the Regulation 1/2003 and its compliance with human rights. Following this, the judicial review of the Commission’s decisions conducted by the EU courts will be analysed by addressing the jurisprudence of EU courts concerning Articles 101 and 102 TFEU cases. Lastly, taking into consideration the current state of affairs discussed in the previous chapters, the analysis will be conducted regarding the relationship between the EU and the ECHR, more precisely, the impact of such affairs will be highlighted especially in the light of the repercussions for the rights of defence of companies. In this regard, the right to a fair trial will be observed in details. As one of the solutions for ensuring due level of fundamental rights’ protection of companies, an extension of the role of the European Ombudsman as an external administrative controlling mechanism will be suggested. The final chapter will contain concluding remarks addressing all chapters accordingly.