The 3rd edition of Valentine Korah’s EEC Competition Law and Practice (the “yellow book”) appeared in 1986. It now runs to 147 pages of text, quite a bit longer than the previous edition. The appendices are also more extensive than before. In particular, the glossary of terms has been enlarged; newcomers to the subject will find it particularly helpful. Whether the bibliographies at the end of each chapter are of much use is less clear. Will many businessmen be inclined to refer to the Cahiers de Droit European? Many important case notes and articles are not referred to.

There is clearly a continuing need for this kind of introductory work on EEC Competition Law. One still hears of companies—sometimes quite large and well-established—which have only the haziest idea that their licensing agreements or distribution arrangements might be affected by the provisions of the Rome Treaty. Ignorance of the competition rules in the Treaty may lead to the imposition of heavy fines and to commercial disaster. This book was originally written specifically for businessmen, althought the most recent edition has been written with lawyers and law students in mind as well. As a result, the economics of competition are dealt with in greater detail than before and some of the more difficult conceptual problems—in particular, the application of a “rule of reason” under Art. 85(1)—are considered. Whether the inclusion of this material benefits the book is questionable. At times it seems to sit awkwardly with the rest of the text (for example, at p. 27, where Nungesser, Coditel(2) and Pronuptia are dealt with), and to detract from the overall clarity of the work. Furthermore, there is a burgeoning competition law literature, several new works having appeared recently both for practitioners and for students; their use of the yellow book may well decline as a result.

The earlier part of the book deals with the economics of competition, the provisions of Art. 85 and the enforcement of the competition rules. The later chapters look at particular problems in context—distribution agreements, licensing of intellectual property, joint ventures and so on. To this reviewer these chapters are the most successful; the text is generally clear, the advice easy to follow and the criticism acute. The chapter on Art. 86 is also very helpful. The earlier part of the book is rather less convincing: explaining the provisions of Art. 85 in the abstract is far from easy; the postponement of the discussion of nullity and civil law sanctions to Chapter 5 seems here only to compound the problem. The discussion of the Commission’s powers under Regulation 17/62 in Chapter 4 is extremely helpful, however. The average businessman might consider this section to be the most important in the book.

The book is often provocative and stimulating. The writer continues to express concern at the way in which the expression “concerted practice” is—or might be—interpreted. Arguably, Professor Korah fails to give sufficient weight to the requirement laid down by the Court of Justice that there must be a knowing substitution of co-operation for competition. By the time that the next edition is published, the appeal in Wood Pulp may have shed new light on this issue.

Some parts of the text are rather misleading. The court did not quash the Commission in Tepea (p. 25); the House of Lords did not unanimously decide that damages lie under Art. 86 (p. 48); the discussion of Bourgoin (p. 49) might usefully have brought out the distinction between free movement cases and competition ones more clearly; the reference to the Sherman Act 1980 (sic: p. 59) is rather unfortunate; the first sentence on exclusive purchasing (p. 80) is far from clear.

The third edition of the yellow book is welcome and is at its best when dealing with practical problems and giving specific advice. The attempt to extend its appeal to students and