...
The
...
Relevant
...
Geographic
...
Market
...
is
...
determined
...
by
...
the
...
area
...
where
...
different
...
undertakings
...
provide
...
products
...
and/or
...
services
...
with
...
homogeneous
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition.
...
The
...
geographic
...
market
...
is
...
defined
...
by
...
the
...
interchangeability
...
of
...
products
...
made/sold
...
in
...
different
...
areas
...
and
...
it
...
should
...
be
...
observed
...
the
...
behavior
...
of
...
consumers
...
once
...
the
...
product
...
sold
...
in
...
certain
...
locations
...
suffers
...
an
...
increase
...
of
...
price,
...
they
...
should
...
buy
...
a
...
substitutable
...
product
...
of
...
another
...
location,
...
if
...
that
...
happens
...
both
...
areas
...
should
...
be
...
considered
...
as
...
one
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
market.
...
Moreover,
...
to
...
define
...
the
...
Relevant
...
market,
...
two
...
main
...
steps
...
are
...
required,
...
in
...
the
...
first
...
place
...
the
...
relevant
...
product
...
market
...
should
...
be
...
delimited,
...
in
...
order
...
to
...
do
...
so
...
the
...
products
...
and/or
...
services
...
that
...
are
...
substitutable
...
because
...
of
...
its
...
characteristics,
...
prices
...
or
...
intended
...
use
...
should
...
be
...
analyzed;
...
after
...
that
...
the
...
geographic
...
market
...
should
...
be
...
delineated.
...
“The
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
market
...
encompasses
...
a
...
geographic
...
area
...
in
...
which
...
the
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition
...
are
...
sufficiently
...
homogeneous”
...
...
,
...
therefore,
...
the
...
size
...
and
...
extent
...
of
...
the
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
market
...
will
...
depend
...
on
...
how
...
homogeneous
...
is
...
the
...
competition
...
in
...
the
...
analyzed
...
areas:
...
“Depending
...
on
...
the
...
degree
...
of
...
homogeneity
...
of
...
the
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition
...
between
...
different
...
areas,
...
the
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
market
...
may
...
be
...
global,
...
regional,
...
trans-regional,
...
national,
...
sub-national,
...
or
...
in
...
rare
...
cases,
...
confined
...
to
...
a
...
facility
...
in
...
a
...
single
...
geographical
...
location
...
(e.g.,
...
a
...
port).”
...
...
As
...
has
...
been
...
stated
...
in
...
the
...
Commission
...
Notice
...
on
...
the
...
definition
...
of
...
relevant
...
market
...
for
...
the
...
purposes
...
of
...
Community
...
competition
...
law,
...
the
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
markets
...
can
...
be
...
defined
...
as
...
the
...
area
...
where
...
“undertakings
...
concerned
...
are
...
involved
...
in
...
the
...
supply
...
and
...
demand
...
of
...
products
...
or
...
services,
...
in
...
which
...
the
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition
...
are
...
sufficiently
...
homogeneous
...
and
...
which
...
can
...
be
...
distinguished
...
from
...
neighboring
...
areas
...
because
...
the
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition
...
are
...
appreciably
...
different
...
in
...
those
...
areas.”
...
...
In
...
order
...
to
...
determine
...
the
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
market
...
a
...
three
...
steps
...
analitycal
...
process
...
has
...
been
...
proposed
...
by
...
Robert
...
O’Donoghue
...
and
...
Jorge
...
Padilla,
...
they
...
describe
...
it
...
as
...
follows:
...
“According
...
to
...
the
...
Market
...
Definition
...
Notice,
...
the
...
Analytical
...
approach
...
used
...
when
...
defining
...
relevant
...
geographic
...
markets
...
involves
...
three
...
steps:
...
Identifying
...
the
...
putative
...
market
...
from
...
the
...
demand
...
side.
...
(…)
...
Market
...
shares
...
and
...
prices
...
in
...
and
...
out
...
of
...
the
...
putative
...
market
...
must
...
then
...
be
...
compared
...
to
...
ascertain
...
whether
...
the
...
conditions
...
of
...
competition
...
are
...
homogeneous
...
or
...
heterogeneous
...
across
...
regions.
...
(…)
...
Supply-side
...
factors.
...
(…)
...
The
...
goal
...
is
...
to
...
investigate
...
whether
...
suppliers
...
located
...
outside
...
the
...
putative
...
market
...
would
...
be
...
able
...
to
...
enter
...
the
...
market
...
in
...
response
...
to
...
a
...
price
...
increase.
...
(…)
...
Scope
...
for
...
widening
...
the
...
market
...
based
...
on
...
future
...
integration.
...
(…)
...
to
...
ask
...
whether
...
there
...
is
...
a
...
continuing
...
process
...
of
...
market
...
integration.
...
As
...
a
...
result,
...
it
...
may
...
identify
...
a
...
wider
...
geographic
...
market
...
(…).”
...
Nevertheless,
...
the
...
definition
...
of
...
the
...
Relevant
...
Geographic
...
Market
...
should
...
also
...
be
...
observed
...
in
...
practice,
...
the
...
already
...
quoted
...
authors
...
suggest
...
that
...
the
...
following
...
topics
...
should
...
be
...
analyzed
...
...
:
...
Price
...
Evidence:
...
Once
...
a
...
region
...
has
...
been
...
identified,
...
we
...
should
...
observe
...
that
...
the
...
prices
...
of
...
a
...
certain
...
product
...
in
...
a
...
candidate
...
market
...
cannot
...
be
...
higher
...
than
...
the
...
same
...
product
...
sold
...
in
...
a
...
different
...
region,
...
unless
...
there
...
are
...
obstacles
...
to
...
trade.
...
Trade
...
flows
...
(quantity
...
evidence):
...
This
...
can
...
be
...
used
...
to
...
understand
...
the
...
geographic
...
purchasing
...
patterns.
...
Although
...
this
...
theory
...
has
...
been
...
criticized
...
because
...
the
...
levels
...
of
...
imports
...
and
...
exports
...
are
...
not
...
a
...
sufficient
...
element
...
to
...
determine
...
a
...
geographic
...
market,
...
because
...
even
...
if
...
a
...
product
...
goes
...
between
...
two
...
regions
...
they
...
can
...
belong
...
to
...
different
...
product
...
markets.
...
Barriers
...
to
...
trade:
...
The
...
barriers
...
to
...
trade
...
generate
...
a
...
separation
...
on
...
the
...
relevant
...
product
...
markets.
...
- Transport costs:
...
- They
...
- affect
...
- trade
...
- depending
...
- on
...
how
...
- high
...
- are
...
- the
...
- costs.
...
- Consumer preferences:
...
- They
...
- affect
...
- the
...
- definition
...
of
...
- the
...
- relevant
...
- geographic
...
- market
...
- because
...
- the
...
- consumers
...
- have
...
- preferences,
...
- for
...
example
...
- of
...
- local
...
- products
...
- and
...
- that
...
- helps
...
- to
...
- constraint
...
- the
...
- demand
...
- to
...
- an
...
specific
...
- area.
...
- Capacity constraints:
...
- When
...
- firms
...
- operating
...
- in
...
- a
...
- distant
...
region
...
- have
...
- the
...
- capacity
...
- of
...
- providing
...
- their
...
- products
...
- in
...
- a
...
- specific
...
- area
...
- without
...
additional
...
- costs
...
- the
...
- region
...
- has
...
- to
...
- be
...
- included
...
- in
...
- the
...
- relevant
...
- product
...
- market.
...
- Long term contracts:
...
- When
...
- firms
...
- have
...
- long
...
- term
...
contracts
...
- with
...
- the
...
- local
...
- market
...
- they
...
- will
...
- be
...
- unable
...
- to
...
- sell
...
- their
...
- products
...
- in
...
- a
...
candidate
...
- market
...
- even
...
- if
...
- prices
...
- increase.
...
- Regulatory barriers:
...
- These
...
- limit
...
- the
...
- size
...
- of
...
- the
...
geographic
...
- market;
...
- there
...
- are
...
- many
...
- types
...
- of
...
- regulatory
...
- barriers
...
- as
...
- legal
...
monopolies
...
- or
...
- technical
...
- standards.
...
- Local presence:
...
- In
...
- markets
...
- where
...
- is
...
- important
...
- to
...
have
...
- local
...
- distribution
...
- foreign
...
- competitors
...
- may
...
- be
...
- in
...
- disadvantage.
...
1 O'Donoghue/Padilla,
...
The
...
Law
...
and
...
Economics
...
of
...
Article
...
102,
...
Oxford
...
University
...
Press.
...
P.
...
96.
...
2 O'Donoghue/Padilla,
...
The
...
Law
...
and
...
Economics
...
of
...
Article
...
102,
...
Oxford
...
University
...
Press.
...
P.
...
96.
...
3 Official Journal C 372,
09/12/1997
...
P.
...
0005
...
–
...
0013.
...
4 O'Donoghue/Padilla,
...
The
...
Law
...
and
...
Economics
...
of
...
Article
...
102,
...
Oxford
...
University
...
Press.
...
P.
...
125.
...
5 Points 1,
...
2
...
and
...
3
...
have
...
been
...
obtained
...
from
...
the
...
reading
...
of:
...
O'Donoghue/Padilla,
...
The
...
Law
...
and
...
Economics
...
of
...
Article
...
102,
...
Oxford
...
University
...
Press.
...
P.
...
125-128.
...
