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聯合行為規範之比較法上考察

第二章 聯合行為之規範

第一節 聯合行為規範之比較法上考察

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第二章 聯合行為之規範

聯合行為是事業間藉由意思聯絡而形成限制競爭的約定,以拘束 彼此間的經濟活動。此種事業間不為競爭之約定,將使市場的競爭消 失,破壞市場以供需形成價格之機能。故此種以人為方式,不當干預 市場運作機能,獲取不當的超額利潤,向來為各國競爭法制的規範重 點。

第一節 聯合行為規範之比較法上考察

第一項 美國

美國並未就競爭法規統一制定反托拉斯法(Anti-trust Law),而是 分別於 1890 年制定休曼法(Sherman Act)、1914 年制定克萊登法 (Clayton Act) 、 1914 年 制 定 聯 邦 貿 易 委 員 會 法 (Federal Trade Commission Act)及 1936 年制定羅賓森-波特曼法(Robinson-Patman Act)。其中對於聯合行為之規範則規定於休曼法第 1 條1:「任何以契 約、托拉斯或其他形式之結合、或共謀,限制美國各州間或與外國間 之貿易或商業者,均屬違法。任何人有此等違法行為而作成任何合約 或進行任何結合或共謀者,應視為觸犯重罪,且一經定罪,其若為營 利事業,即應處以一億元以下罰金,若為其他任何人,則依法院之裁 量,處以十年以下有期徒刑、或科或併科一百萬元以下之罰金。」及 第 3 條(a)項2:「所有以契約、托拉斯或其他形式之結合、或共謀,限

1 參公平會之翻譯,原文:Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal. Every person who shall make any contract or engage in any combination or conspiracy hereby declared to be illegal shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

2 參公平會之翻譯,原文:Every contract, combination in form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce in any Territory of the United States or of the District of Columbia, or in

體(associations)4。在方式方面,須以契約、信託或其他方式達成合意 或共謀。在內容方面,須限制各州間或與外國之貿易,惟縱是發生於 特定州內的行為,如是由別州或外國之人所發動,該行為亦可能被視 為州際間之貿易。且第 1 條及第 3 條並未區別水平或垂直的契約、共 謀或限制,故無論是水平聯合或垂直聯合皆屬該法規範之對象。

restraint of trade or commerce between any such Territory and another, or between any such Territory or Territories and any State or States or the District of Columbia, or with foreign nations, or between the District of Columbia and any State or States or foreign nations, is declared illegal. Every person who shall make any such contract or engage in any such combination or conspiracy, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or both said punishments, in the discretion of the court.

3 參公平會之翻譯,原文:The word “person”, or “persons”, wherever used in sections 1 to 7 of this title shall be deemed to include corporations and associations existing under or authorized by the laws of either the United States, the laws of any of the Territories, the laws of any State, or the laws of any foreign country.

4 聯合行為主體之研究,公平交易委員會 95 年度研究發展報告,96 年 1 月,頁 8。

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由於休曼法第 1 條的規定非常概括,在適用上具有非常大的彈性,

完全交由法院判斷。一開始法院亦只是攏統的對法條進行解釋,並沒 有提出判斷違法性的具體規則。在實務上,美國法院對於聯合行為違 法性之判斷發展出「合理原則」(rule of reason)與「當然違法原則」(per se illegal)。在 1911 年 Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. U.S.5一案中,

White 法官代表法院提出了判斷違法性的重要原則----「合理原則」

(rule of reason),認為休曼法第 1 條已足以涵蓋所有得以想像之契約,

導致該等行為皆成為違法,如此結果顯然過苛,故以合理的標準進行 解釋,就個案相關因素加以分析、綜合考量,並評估反競爭性,以判 斷其違法性。之後,在 1918 年 Chicago Board of Trade v. U.S.6一案中,

法院對合理原則作了進一步的闡述,法院認為任何有關貿易的協議都 會限制交易,故不能以其是否限制競爭這樣的簡單標準判定。真正的 合法性標準應該在於這種限制是否僅僅是規制並且可能因此促進競 爭,還是限制或者甚至破壞競爭。為決定這一問題,法院必須考慮這 種限制所適用的特定事實、限制實施的前後情況、限制的本質、範圍 及影響等相關因素。在採合理原則情況下,法院將接受當事人提供的 證據,對限制競爭行為的好處與壞處進行衡量,如果一個限制競爭在 經濟上的好處超過其因限制競爭而產生的負面影響,法院就會認定這 個限制競爭是合法的7

儘管法院對於違法性的判斷提出了合理原則,惟對於某些嚴重限 制競爭之聯合行為,如固定價格(price-fixing),法院的態度仍較為嚴 格,而採當然違法原則。在 1927 年 U.S. v. Trenton Potteries Company

5 Standard Oil Co. of New Jersey v. U.S. 221 U.S. 2(1911)

6 Chicago Board of Trade v. U.S. 246 U.S. 231(1918)

7 王曉曄,競爭法學,社會科學文獻出版社,2007 年 1 月,第 1 版,頁 231。

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et al.8一案中,控制美國大約 82%市佔率的陶瓷生產商協議固定價格 和限制銷售,並抗辯他們所協議的價格具有合理性,其採取此行為只 是為防止競爭者進行毀滅性的價格戰。Stone 法官代表法院發表了看 法:價格是否合理必須經由競爭來判斷,每一個固定價格協議的目的 和結果,如果有效的話就是消滅競爭的一種形式。今天的合理價格由 於經濟、貿易的變化可能在明天就會變成不合理的價格,一旦協議固 定就可以維持不變,此種協議可以完全被認為本身就是不合理的限制,

沒有必要詳細調查被固定的價格是否合理,也沒必要使政府承擔這樣 的角色。根據此一論述,可知固定價格協議本身即為違法,不必進一 步判斷價格是否合理。此外,由於市場分配協議(market division )之 主要目的或效果本身即具有反競爭性,此種行為亦應適用當然違法原 則9。因此,如果某種行為適用了當然違法原則,原告在訴訟中不需 要就被告的意圖、行為的具體方式、損害後果等因素進行舉證,法院 即可直接根據行為本身斷定其違法性,大大提高了司法效率,亦可排 除當事人希望透過證明其行為合理性來規避法律責任的僥倖心態。除 固定價格及分配市場外,限制生產數量或者銷售數量或聯合抵制行為,

在任何情況下都會被視為不合理的限制,這些行為亦適用當然違法原 則10

為使反托拉斯執法明確,美國聯邦交易委員會 (Federal Trade Commission,FTC)與司法部(Department of Justice,DOJ)於 2000 年 4 月 7 日發布「競爭者合作之反托拉斯指南」(Antitrust Guidelines for Collaboration Among Competitors)11針對當然違法原則及合理原則加

8 U.S. v. Trenton Potteries Company et al. 273 U.S. 392(1927)

9 Arthur R. Miller & Thmas L. Gossman, Bussiness Law , Foreman and Company, 1990, at 1002.

10 王曉曄,註書,頁 231。

11 Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors on the FTC Web site, vailable at http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/guidelines/index.html(last visited Jun 27 2013)

12 原文:Agreements Challenged as Per Se Illegal. Agreements of a type that always or almost always tends to raise price or to reduce output are per se illegal. The Agencies challenge such agreements, once identified, as per se illegal. Types of agreements that have been held per se illegal include agreements among competitors to fix prices or output, rig bids, or share or divide markets by allocating customers, suppliers, territories, or lines of commerce. The courts conclusively presume such agreements, once identified, to be illegal, without inquiring into their claimed business purposes, anticompetitive harms, procompetitive benefits, or overall competitive effects. The Department of Justice prosecutes participants in hard-core cartel agreements criminally

13 原文:Agreements Analyzed under the Rule of Reason. Agreements not challenged as per se illegal are analyzed under the rule of reason to determine their overall competitive effect. These include agreements of a type that otherwise might be considered per se illegal, provided they are reasonably related to, and reasonably necessary to achieve procompetitive benefits from, an efficiency-enhancing integration of economic activity.

Community,又稱羅馬條約,以下簡稱歐體條約)第 81 條(現行第 101 條),規定之內容如下14

1. The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market: all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which may affect trade between Member States and which have as their object or effect the prevention,restriction or distortion of competition within the common market, and in particular those which:

(a) directly or indirectly fix purchase or selling prices or any other trading conditions;

(b)limit or control production, markets, technical development, or investment;

(c)share markets or sources of supply;

(d)apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties, thereby placing them at a competitive disadvantage;

(e)make the conclusion of contracts subject to acceptance by the other parties of supplementary obligations which, by their nature or according to commercial usage, have no connection with the subject of such contracts.

2. Any agreements or decisions prohibited pursuant to this Article shall be automatically void.

3. The provisions of paragraph 1 may, however, be declared inapplicable in the case of:

— any agreement or category of agreements between undertakings,

— any decision or category of decisions by associations of undertakings,

— any concerted practice or category of concerted practices,

which contributes to improving the production or distribution of goods or to promoting technical or economic progress, while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefit, and which does not:

(a) impose on the undertakings concerned restrictions which are not indispensable to the attainment of these objectives;

(b) afford such undertakings the possibility of eliminating competition in respect of a substantial part of the products in question.

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或經濟進步,並確保消費者能享受其利益,而無(a)對相關事業 課以非必要之限制;或(b)使相關事業就系爭商品之重要部分 排除競爭等情形者,第 1 項規定得被宣告不適用:

(a) 事業間協議或某種協議類型;

(b) 事業團體決議或某種決議類型;

(c) 致性行為或某種一致性行為類型。

本條第 1 項採「原則禁止」之立場,列舉禁止的行為及違法構成 要件。其要件有:1.事業或事業團體;2.事業間為禁止行為之協議(協 議、事業團體決議與一致性行為);3.妨礙會員國間之交易。4.協議以 限制競爭為目的,或產生限制競爭之效果。

由於歐體條約未對「事業」加以定義,依歐洲法院之判決,事業 並非完全等同於公司法或會計法下所稱的法律人格,凡任何從事商業、

經濟活動之組織或自然人,不論其法律型態,亦不論是否以營利為目 的,均屬本項所稱之「事業」15,且包含「水平競爭關係之事業」及

「垂直競爭關係之事業」16。由於競爭法著重競爭秩序之維護,對於 事業之概念給予廣泛之定義,凡從事競爭之主體均應受競爭法之規範,

故除公司型態外,亦包含個人、合夥、團體、農業合作社、從事商業 行為之政府機關、國營事業及個人17。另於實務運作上,為建立量化 標準作為限制競爭行為是否影響會員國間交易之判斷標準,執委會於 2001 年 12 月 22 日的「輕微卡特爾協議通知」(Commission Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competition under Article 81(1) of the Treaty establishing the European

15 Alison Jones & Brend Sufrin, Ec Competition Law-Text,Cases,and Materials, Oxford University Press, 2011, 4th Edition, at 124.

16 Mark Furse, Competition Law of the EC and UK, Oxford University, 2006, at 167.

17 王泰銓,歐洲事業競爭法(二)歐洲競爭規範,五南圖書出版股份有限公司,98 年 6 月,第 2 版,頁 18。

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Community (de minimis) )18第 7 點中指出:參與卡特爾之事業,如為 水平卡特爾而其市場佔有率不超過 10%,如為垂直卡特爾而其市場佔

Community (de minimis) )18第 7 點中指出:參與卡特爾之事業,如為 水平卡特爾而其市場佔有率不超過 10%,如為垂直卡特爾而其市場佔