Convenios colectivos y Derecho de la competenciaUn estudio de los criterios generales sobre el sometimiento de los convenios colectivos a la prohibición de acuerdos restrictivos

Abstract

As a regulated market, a particular feature of the labor market is that collective agreements, which result from the collective negotiation between business and trade union associations, is a source of regulation of the labor relationship which is expressly subject to the legal system as a whole, including antitrust laws. Typically, collective agreements govern the terms for attaining and applying a key factor for the competitiveness of any business: working capital. Specifically, they standardize not only the employers’ cost structure but also aspects of their labor organization, employment stability policy or productivity initiatives. This inevitably restrains competition among companies that are subject to collective agreements and requires the application of the antitrust laws. Therefore, to preserve the practical use of the constitutional recognition of collective negotiation, general criteria have been laid down to determine which collective agreements fall outside the scope of application of the prohibition on agreements which restrict competition. For this purpose, according to the case law and practice of the antitrust authorities, collective agreements must have the nature inherent to such instruments and regulate matters that are specific to collective negotiation. Both circumstances must largely be assessed in the light of ordinary domestic labor legislation.