A PYMNTS Company

Competition Buzz: Non-Compliance with Codes of Conduct as an Unfair Competition Practice

By  |  June 20, 2016

By: José Massaguer

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The amendment of the Spanish Unfair Competition Law in 2009 introduced a new misleading action to the list of actions specifically defined and characterized as unfair competition: non-compliance with commitments contained in codes of conduct, which is now addressed in Section 5.2. This study first describes the background of this particular unfair competition practice, which is found in Directive 2005/29/EC, of 11 May 2005, concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (Unfair Commercial Practices Directive), and then discusses the material implications of its inclusion among practices considered as misleading actions, according to which the mere infringement of a code of conduct does not constitute unfair competition.

    (Original Document in Spanish)

    Full Content: SSRN

    Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.