The aim of this article is to analyse different goals of the competition law, which are established in European Union and Lithuania. EU Commission and the Court of Justice distinguish a number of goals of the competition law. Most commonly, mentioned goals of competition law are the following: the integration of the Internal Market, the protection of consumers, protection of the competitors, freedom of competition and economic efficiency. Different goals of competition law are analysed in this paper and relationship between (...) them is explained. Special attention is given to the analysis of protection of the consumers as one of the main objectives of competition law. While analysing protection of the consumers in competition law, a difference between the concept of consumer in competition law and consumer protection law is explained. The authors express a number of critical thoughts towards practice of the EU Commission and the Court of Justice so far, as there is a lack of consistency in evaluation of the protection of consumers’ rights in the context of the other objectives of competition law. Relevance of the present article is supported by the several facts such as revision of the competition law goals by the EU Commission and adoption of resolution “Concerning priority of the activities of the Lithuanian Competition Council” by the Lithuanian Competition Council that establishes main principles (priorities) applied while implementing competition policy in Lithuania. Setting out the main goals in Lithuanian competition law may have important practical consequences in the everyday activities of the Lithuanian national competition authority. (shrink)

The article analyses information exchange agreements between competitors. The article aims to reveal the cases where the exchange of information between competitors might be considered as a prohibited agreement, violating Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or Article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Lithuania on Competition. The article analyses the legal nature of the information exchange agreements between competitors, with utmost regard to the criteria, according to which an agreement on the (...) exchange of information could be acknowledged as prohibited or violating the rules of competition law. In the article it is presumed that information exchange agreements do not aim at restricting competition, however in certain cases they might have the effect of restriction of competition. (shrink)

Razlika između prikaza vrhunskog sportaša nekad i danas možda se najbolje ocrtava u točki susreta kiborg-teorije i studija o sportu. Rekonceptualizacija pojma ‘sportaš’ u tome se smislu otvara kao pomak od ‘prirodnoga’ ka ‘umjetnom’. Tijekom ljudske povijesti vrhunski sportaši uvijek su bili doživljavani kao na određeni način ‘ne-prirodni’ i slavljeni kao heroji koji su nadvladali granice svojih prirodnih tijela. Današnji sportski događaji privlače više gledatelja nego ikada ranije, a oštra konkurencija podiže i same standarde i kriterije natjecanja. Sportovi koji (...) privlače mase gledatelja već su odavno predstave ‘nakaza’; gledateljima na stadionima ili pred televizorom u udobnosti njihovih domova gotovo je nemoguće zamisliti da bi i sami ikad mogli postići tako super-mišićavo tijelo sa super-brzim refleksima. Staromodni krv, znoj i suze još su uvijek negdje prisutni, iako inkorporirani u napredna dostignuća moderne tehno-kulture. Mnoštvo pitanja koja proizlaze iz takve perspektive pronašla su svoje mjesto za raspravu u relativno novom pluriperspektivnom pristupu izazovima biotehnološkog doba – bioetici. Bioetika nudi platformu za dijalog o bitnim pitanjima današnjice, dijalog koji nadrasta disciplinarne, stručne, historijske i kulturološke pozicije. Takav diskurs suočava se, međutim, sa pluralizmom u pristupima kao i metodološkim barijerama te pretpostavlja stvaranje odgovarajuće teorijske podloge. Ovaj rad će izdvojiti samo neke problemske točke koje u području sporta plastično ocrtavaju nedostatnosti postojećih monoperspektivno orijentiranih koncepcija. U tome smislu, naglasit će se samo neki simptomi koji ukazuju na dezorijentiranost svakodnevnog življenja, a koji se na osoben način prikazuju u sportu: krhkost etičkih pozicija sadržanih u konceptima »duha sporta« i fair playa u sučeljavanju sa znanstveno-tehničkim napretkom, objektivacija tijela, te porast interesa za aktivnostima visokog rizika. U ovome radu navedena obilježja razumijevaju se kao znakovi potrebe za nadilaženjem redukcionističkih i monoperspektivnih pristupa, donedavno dominantnih, a koje osobit bioetički pristup ima mogućnosti nadići. (shrink)

Although the Lisbon Treaty maintained the general exclusion of Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) matters from ECJ jurisdiction, it introduced a number of changes into this area, including an explicit statement that the Court is competent to review the legality of the Council decisions imposing restraining measures on persons. The article analyzes the nature and origin of those changes and considers the legal implications for the level of the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union. For this purpose (...) the author firstly considers the context of the exclusion of CFSP matters from the ECJ jurisdiction, including discussions on the issue at the European Convention, and, secondly, takes a closer look at the separate heads of jurisdiction over which the Court is competent to act after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. A conclusion is made that the Lisbon Treaty did not introduce significant changes to ECJ jurisdiction. Similarly to the pattern of previous amendment treaties, the Lisbon Treaty again gave recognition to the practice of the ECJ on relevant questions. Nonetheless, the amendments made by the Lisbon Treaty should be welcome for introducing more clarity into the legal regulation of the matter, thus boosting the legal certainty and protection of fundamental rights in the European Union. (shrink)