This is an extraordinarily useful book for anyone practicing in the area of competition law before the European Commission or the European Courts. It focuses on procedure in the four principal fields that entail enforcement of substantive competition rules: antitrust, merger, anti-dumping/anti-subsidies, and state aid. The author proposes modifications in the four procedures that eliminate unnecessary differences among them, save time and money, and offer better protection of the rights of the concerned parties while preserving effective enforcement of the relevant rules.

Each of the first four chapters offers an in-depth analysis of the rights and obligations of the private parties concerned in proceedings in each of the four fields, from their initiation up to termination by the adoption of specific measures as appropriate. Three comparative tables, which consolidate the analysis made in these chapters, introduce the fifth chapter, which provides detailed comparative analysis and proposals for reform.

Among the many practical issues raised are the following:

• the obligations of an undertaking during the fact-finding procedure of the Commission in antitrust cases;
• the extent to which the right to confidential communication between lawyer and client in antitrust cases is recognized by the European Commission and the European Courts;
• the existence of a right to silence to avoid self-incrimination in antitrust cases;
• the right to respect for confidentiality and the right to be heard during the preliminary fact-finding procedure of the Commission in antitrust cases;
• the right of access to the Commission file in antitrust cases;
• the right to a fair hearing in merger and anti-dumping/anti-subsidies cases;
• the right of directly involved parties to bring an action before the European Courts in anti-dumping/anti-subsidies and state aid cases;
• the rights of the complainants in antitrust cases;
• the right to a fair hearing in antitrust cases;
• the rights and obligations of beneficiaries in state aid cases;
• the applicability of Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights to EU antirust procedures; and
• complaints in state aid cases.

The book will be very useful in planning the handling of a case, as it describes the procedure and the rights and obligations of all parties from first to last. The author's analysis draws on all the relevant judgments of the European Courts, and the book comes with a wealth of reference material, including detailed footnotes, lists of legislation and cases in both chronological and alphabetical order, and an extensive bibliography.

Law firms specializing in European competition law, Commission judges and case-handlers, and lawyers defending enterprises are among the practitioners who will benefit greatly by using this book. As the only book that contains an in-depth analysis of the rights and obligations of the parties in all the four fields and in a comparative perspective, it is also uniquely valuable to jurists and academics.