Hardcore restrictions

Refers to restrictions of competition by agreements or business prac- tices, which are seen by most jurisdictions as being particularly serious and normally do not produce any beneficial effects. They therefore almost always infringe competition law. Under EU law, the...

Hearing

Opportunity for parties, to whom the Commission has addressed objections for violation of EU competition law, to make their views known. In order to respect the parties’ right to be heard, the Commission must in its final decisions only deal with objections on which...

Hearing officer

An independent senior official who is charged with organising hearings and with ensuring that they are properly conducted. The hearing officer thus contributes to the objectivity of the hearing itself, the observance of due process, the respect of the parties’ rights...

Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index (HHI)

Specific measurement of market concentration, that is, of the extent to which a small number of firms account for a large proportion of output. The HHI is used as one possible indicator of market power or competition among firms. It measures market concentration by...

Horizontal agreement

Arrangement between actual or potential competitors, that is, undertakings operating at the same level of the production or distribution chain, covering, for example, research and development, production, purchasing or commercialisation. Horizontal agreements may...