Definition

Meet-or-release clause (Ro.: clauza ofertei concurente, Fr.: clause anglaise, n.f./ clause de l'offre concurrente, n.f., Gr.: ρήτρα ικανοποίησης ή αποδέσμευσης, Cz.: doložka garance nejnižší ceny) (See also: most-favoured customer, offer, price competition) = a contract provision by which the seller agrees to adjust the initial price established by the parties, taking into consideration less expensive offers made by other potential sellers to the buyer. 

The buyer can be released from the contract if the initial seller does not meet the better offer.

 

Useful links

Legislation

http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/eng/03420.html - Merger Enforcement Guidelines, Canada [English]

http://ec.europa.eu/competition/legislation/treaties/ec/art81_en.html - European Community Treaty, Article 81 [English]

Case Law

https://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/00D0061P.pdf - Insulation Corporation of America v. Huntsman Corporation, The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 2000

http://lawjournal.mcgill.ca/userfiles/other/3560620-Graham.pdf - Competition Tribunal, Canada (Director of Investigation and Research) v. NutraSweet Co., 1990 

Organisations and associations

http://www.usitc.gov/publications/701_731/pub4325.pdf - Tin- and Chromium-Coated Steel Sheet from Japan, Investigation No. 731-TA-860 (Second Review), 2012, U.S. International Trade Commission (USA)

http://www.cba.org/cba/sections_competition/pdf/draft-abuse_of_dominance_guidelines_eng.pdf - The Abuse of Dominance Provisions (Sections 78 and 79 of the Competition Act), 2009, The Canadian Bar Association (Canada)

http://www.usitc.gov/publications/701_731/pub3710.pdf - Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bags from China, Malaysia, and Thailand, Investigations Nos. 731-TA-1043-1045 (Final), 2004, U.S. International Trade Commission (USA)

Online Publications

www.barcelonagse.eu/Pdf.php?id=673 – Motta, Massimo, 2007, Cartels in the European Union: Economics, Law, Practice, barcelonagse.eu

http://economiepublique.revues.org/3040 - D’Aspremont, Claude, Dos Santos Ferreira, Rodolphe, 2005, Meet-or-Release and Most-Favored-Customer Clauses with Price-Quantity Competition Yield Cournot Outcomes, Économie publique

http://www.droit-fiscalite-belge.com/article71.html - Michel, Jean-François, 2002, La clause anglaise, droit-fiscalite-belge.com

Publications

Bosco, David, Prieto, Catherine, 2013, Droit européen de la concurrence. Ententes et abus de position dominante, Bruxelles, Bruylant

Chirică, Dan, 2008, Tratat de drept civil. Contracte speciale, Bucharest, C.H.Beck Publishing House, p. 84

Fontaine, M., 1990, Droit des contrats internationaux. Analyse et rédaction de clauses, Paris, Forum européen de la communication, pp. 288-321

Hirshleifer, Jack, Glazer, Amihai, Hirshleifer, David, 2005, Price Theory and Applications: Decisions, Markets, and Information, New York, Cambridge University Press, p. 296

Philips, Louis, 1998, Applied Industrial Economics, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, p. 184

Trebilcock, Michael, Winter, Ralph, Collins, Paul, Iacobucci, Edward M., 2002, The Law and Economics of Canadian Competition Policy, Toronto, University of Toronto Press Incorporated, p. 96

 

By Alexandra Mureșan