Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies (Nov 2011)
The very relevant market.Case comment to the judgment of the Court of Appeals in Warsaw of 22 April 2010 – Interchange fee(Ref. No. VI ACa 607/09)
Abstract
Although almost five years have gone by since the issue of the first decision of the President of the Polish Office for Competition and Consumer Protection (in Polish: Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów; hereafter, UOKIK) regarding multilateral interchange fees, the case is yet to be resolved. In 2010, the Court of Appeals in Warsaw annulled the judgment of the Court for Competition and Consumer Protection1 (in Polish: Sąd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów; hereafter, SOKiK), which in turn overruled the original decision issued by the UOKiK President. The antitrust decision and following judgments reflect varying views on how to apply competition law to payment card systems. In addition, they appear to mirror the various approaches adopted by the European Commission in its subsequent decisions with respect to Visa and MasterCard.
