歐洲聯盟競爭法律規範適用之研究–以歐盟航空公司合併為例

Abstract

歐盟起源於第二次世界大戰之後，由當時法國外交部部長羅伯特•舒曼(Robert Schuman)發表公佈的《舒曼宣言》(Schuman Declaration)開始，至今已經超過50年，因舒曼宣言而建立的「歐洲煤鋼共同體」(the European Coal and Steel Community)也已經演變成今日我們所熟知的「歐洲聯盟」(the European Union)。歐盟為一個超國家組織以及全球第一大經濟體（根據國際貨幣基金IMF調查，2014年歐盟GDP為184兆美金 左右），根據其宗旨，商品、資金、人員及服務在歐盟境內自由流通。受到全球化的影響，國與國之間的邊界逐漸消除，企業跨國合併併購也成為常態，歐盟身為全球化的要角，也無法阻擋這股潮流。早在1986年《單一歐洲法》生效後，歐盟便致力於創造一個內部市場，由於跨國企業合併案增加，因此法律的制訂以及施行更凸顯其重要性。歐盟法律制訂必須凌駕於會員國國家立法，確保所有會員國在市場上有一個透明且公平的競爭環境。 本文主要著重在歐洲聯盟針對於企業合併審查法律制度上，其形成原因、法律制訂演變以及現行法律的運用，其目的為希望透過大型的合併案件，檢視歐盟競爭法實際運用之情形。在2004年4月《單一歐洲天空第一階段》(Single European Sky I)以及2008年3月《歐美開放天空協議第一階段》(EU-US Open Skies Agreement- Stage One)生效後，解除航空公司市場禁入限制，私人企業得以進入，航空產業不再受到國家的保護，在自由競爭之下，舊有國籍航空公司的利潤受到壓縮，因此出現航空公司彼此合併或者併購的現象，減少軟硬體重複消耗同時增加利潤。本文以歐盟航空公司合併案件作為討論對象，法國荷蘭皇家航空合併案、漢莎英倫航空合併案以及義大利阿提哈德航空合併案，檢視歐盟執委會在執行合併案件審查時，競爭法的運用情形以及每個個案之重點所在，並且同時瞭解航空運輸產業發展之情形。

The European Union (EU) is both a supranational and intergovernmental organization consisting of 28 Member States. Over the course of five decades, it has become more and more integrated economically, aiming to form an internal market that seeks to guarantee the free movements of goods, capital, service and labors between the EU member states. Against the backdrop of globalization today, the world has become borderless, in which cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become the norm. Being one of the major actors in international trade, the EU is by no means a stranger to this phenomenon. As mentioned above, the EU has created the internal market, and therefore the regulations must be made at the European level and observed by all the Member States to ensure faire competition among all the market players. After the entry into force of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1987, which set the objective of establishing a European Single Market by the end of 1992, the aviation industry underwent the process of liberalization. Under Single European Sky and EU-US Open Skies Agreement, the entry barrier of the airline industry has been removed. From then on, not only can flag carrier fly regular transatlantic flights, but also private sectors. The deregulation in European aviation market serves two purposes: preventing government interventions within the EU, and thus creating a dynamic and diverse investment environment. However, the deregulation has made the market more competitive. To make their business more profitable, many airline companies will seek a merger with their competitors. In view of this phenomenon, the competition law is needed to ensure the open competition. The thesis aims to analysis the origin and the development of the EU Competition law and its application to cross-border airlines merger cases.