Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Excessive pricing definition

What does Excessive pricing mean? In competition law, excessive pricing describes when a dominant undertaking charges prices so high that they bear no reasonable relation to the economic value of the product or service. It is an exploitative abuse of dominance: in the UK (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) under the Chapter II prohibition in the Competition Act 1998; in Ireland under section 5 of the Competition Act 2002 and Article 102 TFEU. Defined primarily through case law, the leading test (United Brands) asks whether the price–cost margin is excessive and, if so, whether the price is unfair in itself or by comparison...

Article 102 TFEU excessive pricing: CJEU guidance on copyright collecting society tariffs, neighbouring comparators, PPP adjustments, ‘significant and persistent’ threshold, and inclusion of rightsholders’ remuneration in turnover for fines

Published by a LexisNexis Competition expert

Practice notes

CASE HUB (date of judgment—14/09/2017)

Further reading: timeline, commentary and related/relevant cases

Case facts

ARCHIVE—14/09/2017

Outline A request for a preliminary ruling was made by Latvia’s Augstākā tiesa (Supreme Court) to the Court of Justice under Article 267 TFEU. The referring court sought clarification on when the practice of a dominant undertaking, within Article 102 TFEU, in charging elevated prices should be treated as ‘excessive’ and thus breach point (a) in the second paragraph of Article 102 TFEU...

Outcome

On 14 September 2017, the Court of Justice held, inter alia, that an abuse based on ‘Excessive pricing’ can be found where the gap between the price under review and a suitably selected market benchmark is both material and enduring on the facts. As regards an appropriate comparator for that analysis, the Court confirmed that a restricted comparator drawn from neighbouring Member States may suffice, provided that market and its pricing indices are identified using objective, appropriate, and verifiable criteria, and that comparisons are performed on a consistent basis...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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