Per se
By itself.
Per se is a Latin term denoting that conduct or an agreement is prohibited or unlawful in itself, without any need to establish further consequences.
In Dutch and European law, the term per se is used primarily in competition law. Certain agreements, such as price-fixing or market allocation, are considered per se prohibited because they restrict competition by definition.
This has the consequence that the competition authority or the injured party need not furnish concrete evidence of harm or market effects. Unlawfulness follows directly from the nature of the conduct itself. In practice, this leads to faster and stricter enforcement in cases of infringement of Article 6 of the Competition Act and Article 101 TFEU.
“The court ruled that the price agreements between the undertakings were per se contrary to competition law.”
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