This 15-credit module provides the opportunity to develop an understanding of the regulation of competition in a free market economy at two different levels: supranational (the EU) and national (the UK). The course will cover competition law including restrictive agreements and concerted practices, merger control, the abuse of a dominant position, the cartel offence and the law of civil liability and third party rights. In addition, it will also consider current competition law policies and recent reforms, allowing students to identify pertinent EU competition law issues and risks faced by private market actors. In particular, the course will look at the fundamental principles behind EU competition law, the substantive law on identifying anti-competitive practices, and the enforcement dimension of competition law both at the supranational and the domestic level.

Course Objectives
This module aims to:
-Provide students with an insight into the EU and UK competition law regimes;
-Enable students to understand the direct links between EU competition law and UK law and enforcement;
-Develop students' in-depth understanding of the general principles of EU competition law and its influence on national laws of Member States;
-Cover the main substantive norms relating to competition law in the EU including cartel prohibition, abuse of dominant position, merger control, anti-competitive practices, as well as the enforcement of competition law at the national and supranational level;
-Equip students with an appreciation of the debates surrounding recent reforms and potential developments of competition law;
-Enable students to identify and analyse relevant legal issues and resolve problem questions through the application of substantive competition law within a time constraint.

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
-Identify and analyse the sources of EU competition law;
-Illustrate the relationship between the EU competition law regime;
-Demonstrate a sound knowledge of substantive issues and legal concepts of competition law and policy such as the law applicable to anti-trust, abuse of dominant position, and mergers;
-Examine the substantive norms of EU competition law and developments in the case law on anti-trust and abuse of dominant position;
-Apply the relevant principles and rules of competition law to scenarios taken from practice in order to deliver first-instance legal advice;
-Identify the operation of EU competition law in a commercial environment;
-Demonstrate skills of individual legal research and problem analysis.