(This article is a summary of an article that is to be published in World Competition, Kluwer Law International.)
HUMAN RIGHTS: TRADITIONALLY DISMISSED BY THE EUROPEAN COURTS
So far, both players of the two-tier judicial system of the EU—namely the Court of First Instance ("CFI") and the European Court of Justice ("ECJ")—have craftily avoided addressing human rights issues in competition law cases. Even though they repeatedly recognised human rights as "general principles of EU law," they consistently relied upon ad hoc procedural or formal flaws in order to avoid any in-depth assessment of human rights defences.
Lack of success in using human rights defences in competition cases within the EU judicial system is arguably a symptom of the inability to sue the EU itself for human rights breaches before the ECHR. Even though each of its Members are parties to it and even though adherence to the Strasbourg Convention is, interestingly enough, a condition to member-ship of the EU, the
