ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses regulatory works and intends to establish certain common parameters governing third party access (TPA) cases. It describes 'essential facilities doctrine' in the United States, which is laudably referred to as a 'useful analytic tool'. In European Court (EC) competition law and policy, TPA to essential facilities is of increasing interest and importance. Besides numerous individual competition law cases, there are regulatory issues concerning TPA. In US anti-trust law the essential facilities doctrine deals with a particular type of refusal to deal under the Sherman Act. The applicability of Community anti-trust law is in general not dependent on prior harmonisation of the competitive structures in the different Member States. TPA to essential facilities has also been considered in connection with Article 85 of the Treaty. There are also many precedents for the Commission's granting an individual exemption subject to conditions or undertakings concerning TPA.
