The ubiquity of capital groups in the contemporary economy creates a number of new legal challenges. The regulations in force were developed with autonomous entities, operating independently, in mind. The emergence of holdings consisting of several dozen or several hundred formally separate entities operating collectively undermines the fundamental assumptions of the creators of modern codes.

The project aims to analyse the conditions for antitrust liability within a holding and answer the question: what is the actual purpose of "piercing the corporate veil" in competition law in light of the established decisional practice of EU bodies? The question gains particular importance in light of the latest case law indicating that a subsidiary may be held liable for an infringement of competition law by its parent company.

Preliminary research suggests that — contrary to the assumptions of the EC and the CJEU — the aim is neither prevention nor ensuring the effectiveness of the law, but increased repression. The project includes a pioneering comparison with general principles of indirect liability in other regimes. The American and German systems will serve as points of reference.

Dissemination of results: On 5 December 2024, Weronika Herbet-Homenda participated in the international Young Legal Researchers Conference 2024 at the University of Hasselt (Belgium); on 27 September 2024, she delivered a paper at the National Congress of Commercial Law Departments in Olsztyn on "EU holding law — a squaring of the circle or a song of the future?".