The Essential Facilities Doctrine - Still Essential in the Digital Age? A Case Study of Alphabet and Others (C-233/23) and its Doctrinal Impact
(2025) LAGF03 20251Department of Law
Faculty of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Denna uppsats ämnar till att kritiskt undersöka den föränderliga omfattningen och funktionen hos doktrinen om essentiella faciliteter (Essential Facilities Doctrine, EFD) under artikel 102 FEUF i ljuset av digitala marknader. EFD har traditionellt sett tillämpats enligt de strikta kriterier som fastställdes i Bronner-målet (C-7/97), särskilt kravet på oumbärlighet, och har fungerat som ett snävt undantag från huvudprincipen att dominerande företag inte är skyldiga att samarbeta med konkurrenter. Med den digitala plattformsekonomins framväxt - präglad av starka nätverkseffekter, krav på interoperabilitet och betydande grindvaktsmakt - utmanas dock detta traditionella ramverk och aktualiserar en omprövning av doktrinens roll i modern... (More)
- Denna uppsats ämnar till att kritiskt undersöka den föränderliga omfattningen och funktionen hos doktrinen om essentiella faciliteter (Essential Facilities Doctrine, EFD) under artikel 102 FEUF i ljuset av digitala marknader. EFD har traditionellt sett tillämpats enligt de strikta kriterier som fastställdes i Bronner-målet (C-7/97), särskilt kravet på oumbärlighet, och har fungerat som ett snävt undantag från huvudprincipen att dominerande företag inte är skyldiga att samarbeta med konkurrenter. Med den digitala plattformsekonomins framväxt - präglad av starka nätverkseffekter, krav på interoperabilitet och betydande grindvaktsmakt - utmanas dock detta traditionella ramverk och aktualiserar en omprövning av doktrinens roll i modern konkurrensrätt.
Genom en rättsdogmatisk och rättsfallsbaserad analys undersöker uppsatsen hur och i vilken utsträckning den nutida domen i Alphabet m.fl. (C-233/23) markerar ett avsteg från Bronner-standardens stränghet. Domstolens resonemang antyder en uppluckring av oumbärlighetskravet, vilket indikerar att en vägran att tillhandahålla interoperabilitet kan omfattas av artikel 102 FEUF även när åtkomsten inte är strikt oumbärlig i Bronner-bemärkelse, men istället ökar konkurrenskraften eller attraktiviteten hos tredjepartstjänster. Denna förändring kan signalera EU:s förskjutning mot en mer flexibel och effektbaserad bedömning av utestängande beteende på digitala marknader samt antyder framväxten av en ”kvasi-essentiella faciliteter”-doktrin.
Denna utveckling speglar en bredare omställning i hur EU:s konkurrensrätt hanterar exkluderande missbruk på plattformsbaserade marknader. Uppsatsen redogör för EFD:s doktrinära grunder, analyserar de strukturella särdrag som präglar digitala plattformar och bedömer kritiskt om den förändrade tolkningen av doktrinen uppnår en rimlig balans mellan konkurrensrättsliga mål och skyddet av innovationsincitament och äganderätt. Slutsatsen är att EFD inte håller på att överges, utan snarare utvecklas till ett mer ändamålsenligt verktyg för att hantera åtkomst till digital infrastruktur under artikel 102 FEUF. (Less) - Abstract
- This thesis critically examines the evolving scope and function of the Essential Facilities Doctrine (EFD) under Article 102 TFEU in the context of digital markets. Traditionally applied under the rigid criteria set out in Bronner (C-7/97), particularly the indispensability requirement, the EFD has served as a narrow exception to the general principle that dominant undertakings are not obliged to deal with competitors. However, the rise of digital platforms - characterised by strong network effects, interoperability demands, and gatekeeping power - challenges this conventional framework and calls for a reassessment of the doctrine’s role in modern competition law.
Through a doctrinal and case-based analysis, this study investigates how... (More) - This thesis critically examines the evolving scope and function of the Essential Facilities Doctrine (EFD) under Article 102 TFEU in the context of digital markets. Traditionally applied under the rigid criteria set out in Bronner (C-7/97), particularly the indispensability requirement, the EFD has served as a narrow exception to the general principle that dominant undertakings are not obliged to deal with competitors. However, the rise of digital platforms - characterised by strong network effects, interoperability demands, and gatekeeping power - challenges this conventional framework and calls for a reassessment of the doctrine’s role in modern competition law.
Through a doctrinal and case-based analysis, this study investigates how and to what extent the recent judgment in Alphabet and Others (C-233/23) signals a departure from the Bronner standard. The Court’s reasoning suggests a lowering of the indispensability criterion, indicating that refusals to ensure interoperability may fall within the scope of Article 102 TFEU even where access is not strictly indispensable in the Bronner sense, but instead enhances the competitiveness or attractiveness of third-party services. This shift may signal the EU’s embrace of a more flexible, effects-based approach to such exclusionary conduct in digital markets and the emergence of a “quasi-essential facilities” doctrine.
This development reflects a broader transformation in how EU competition law addresses exclusionary conduct in platform-based markets. The analysis traces the doctrinal foundations of the EFD, examines the unique structural features of digital platforms, and critically assesses whether this evolving interpretation of the doctrine balances the objectives of competition enforcement with the protection of innovation incentives and property rights. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the EFD is not being abandoned, but rather evolving into a more responsive tool capable of adressing access to digital infrastructure under Article 102 TFEU. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9190207
- author
- Nobrell, Sara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- LAGF03 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- EU Law, Competition Law, Article 102 TFEU, Essential Facilities Doctrine, Abuse of Dominance, Refusal to Supply, Indispensability Criterion, Digital Gatekeepers, Alphabet and Others
- language
- English
- id
- 9190207
- date added to LUP
- 2025-06-23 13:18:54
- date last changed
- 2025-06-23 13:18:54
@misc{9190207,
abstract = {{This thesis critically examines the evolving scope and function of the Essential Facilities Doctrine (EFD) under Article 102 TFEU in the context of digital markets. Traditionally applied under the rigid criteria set out in Bronner (C-7/97), particularly the indispensability requirement, the EFD has served as a narrow exception to the general principle that dominant undertakings are not obliged to deal with competitors. However, the rise of digital platforms - characterised by strong network effects, interoperability demands, and gatekeeping power - challenges this conventional framework and calls for a reassessment of the doctrine’s role in modern competition law.
Through a doctrinal and case-based analysis, this study investigates how and to what extent the recent judgment in Alphabet and Others (C-233/23) signals a departure from the Bronner standard. The Court’s reasoning suggests a lowering of the indispensability criterion, indicating that refusals to ensure interoperability may fall within the scope of Article 102 TFEU even where access is not strictly indispensable in the Bronner sense, but instead enhances the competitiveness or attractiveness of third-party services. This shift may signal the EU’s embrace of a more flexible, effects-based approach to such exclusionary conduct in digital markets and the emergence of a “quasi-essential facilities” doctrine.
This development reflects a broader transformation in how EU competition law addresses exclusionary conduct in platform-based markets. The analysis traces the doctrinal foundations of the EFD, examines the unique structural features of digital platforms, and critically assesses whether this evolving interpretation of the doctrine balances the objectives of competition enforcement with the protection of innovation incentives and property rights. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the EFD is not being abandoned, but rather evolving into a more responsive tool capable of adressing access to digital infrastructure under Article 102 TFEU.}},
author = {{Nobrell, Sara}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Essential Facilities Doctrine - Still Essential in the Digital Age? A Case Study of Alphabet and Others (C-233/23) and its Doctrinal Impact}},
year = {{2025}},
}