• The Relationship Between Company-level Collective Agreements and European Union Competition law

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has never directly determined whether company-level collective agreements fall outside the scope of Article 101(1) TFEU under the Albany doctrine. This question has become increasingly relevant as company-level bargaining has expanded within European labour markets and collective agreements continue to play a central role in regulating working conditions.

This thesis examines the relationship between company-level collective agreements and EU competition law. It employs doctrinal legal research and analyses the relevant provisions of EU law, international labour-law instruments, and the case law of the CJEU. Particular attention is given to the judgments in Albany, Brentjens, and FNV Kunsten, which establish the framework governing the interaction between collective bargaining and competition law.

The analysis demonstrates that the CJEU has consistently focused on the nature and purpose of collective agreements rather than the level at which bargaining takes place. The Albany doctrine applies where an agreement is concluded between labour-market parties and genuinely seeks to improve workers’ conditions of work and employment. Neither the Treaties nor the Court’s case law indicate that this protection is limited to sectoral collective agreements.

The thesis concludes that company-level collective agreements should generally fall outside the scope of Article 101(1) TFEU where they constitute genuine collective agreements between labour-market parties and pursue social-policy objectives recognised by EU law. Consequently, the decisive factor under the Albany doctrine is the character and objective of the agreement rather than the bargaining level at which it is concluded.