Object and effect: What role for structured evidence rules?

Recent decisions of the EU courts on the object/effect distinction have left a wake of widespread discussion about the proper role for economic evidence in Article 101(1) TFEU. The fast pace of development in the industries involved in a number of recent cases such as Allianz and Cartes Bancaires pose issues for the structured analysis implied by the object/effect distinction. Complex issues such as two-sided market dynamics, large economies of scale, and unclear entry dynamics stretch the interface between law and economics further than before. As the dust settles over Article 101(1) following the recent cases, pressing questions include how doctrine surrounding the object/effect distinction is accommodating developments in economic thinking, whether the distinction has changed, and how this fits into a wider picture of changing approaches to economic evidence in competition law cases. This article will consider the developing approach to the treatment of evidence under Article 101 TFEU, to suggest an important and discrete role for the object label.