Staff profile

Dr Anca Daniela Chirita is an Associate Professor of Competition Law. She is the module leader of Competition Law 3011 (since 2012) and Competition Law 40230 (since 2011) responsible for the design and delivery of lectures and seminars. Her research has been published in journals such as International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, German Journal of European Legal Studies, European Law Review, Irish Journal of European Law, Loyola Consumer Law Review (Loyola University Chicago), Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law, World Competition Law and Economics Review, European Competition Journal, European Competition Law Review, Competition Law Review, Oxford Competition Law, Competition Policy International and with Springer, Hart, Elgar, Nomos. Her research examined:

• The exclusionary and exploitative abuse of consumer data available here; EU Digital Markets Act in Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law, Competition for environmental sustainability (written evidence to the UK CMA for BEIS), global platform dominance in digital markets (Loyola Consumer Law Review), the rise of big data (Springer Nature), digital markets – oral / written evidence published by HM Treasury’s Digital Competition Expert Panel, editorial (CLR), anti-competitive practices (CLR, CPI), undistorted competition (World Competition, shortlisted for junior award), comparative abuse of dominance (Dr. Friedrich-Feldbausch-Stiftung Prize);

• Data-driven mergers (Hart), procedural rights (Springer) and theories of harm (EC);

• Competition policy’s social paradox of economic efficiency (ECJ) and the historical interpretation of competition law (ICLQ);
• Restraints in cartels (JELS also in Comparative Competition Policy, OCL);
• State aid: for ‘Too-Big-to Fail’ banks (CYELS);
• Antitrust damages: disclosure of evidence under Directive 2014/104;
• the EU implications for UK competition law: evidence published by the House of Lords’ EU Internal Market Sub-Committee.

Since 2011, she serves as a member of the Editorial Review Board of OUP's Oxford Competition Law and since 2022, of the Competition Journal of the Romanian competition authority. She has acted as a peer-reviewer for CES (Columbia University) for conferences held in Philadelphia, Glasgow, Chicago and Madrid; for journals including the Oxford Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal, Competition Law Review, Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, Journal of European Consumer and Market Law etc; for books with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Hart, Routledge etc.; and for funding applications of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Carnegie Trust etc.

She has presented her research at numerous events, e.g. the University College London, the Law Society, Chatham House, ASCOLA New York, CES Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., SASE Berkeley, CES Sciences Po, Rovinj with four EU judges, XXIII Clasf Madrid, 53^rd AIJA etc. Events organised at Durham are available here.

Academic citizenship service at Durham:

• 2021 DLS’s Dissertation Committee
• 2017-2021 DLS Chair of Ethics and Data Protection
• 2016-2021 DLS’s Research Committee
• 2016-2019 Co-chair of the DLS-DUBS’s Ethics Committee
• 2017-2021 Faculty of Health and Social Sciences Ethics Committee
• 2018-2019 Co-Director of the Institute of Commercial and Corporate Law
• 2016-2017 Deputy Director of Research Impact
• 2016-2017 Deputy Chair of the Ethics and Data Protection Peer Review
• 2013-2014 Co-Director of the European Law Institute.
• Since 2011, member of the Senior Common Room at Grey College.

Outside academia (honorary position applied for in 2017 to 2022): Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition for the Unilateral Conduct Working Group and Cartels Working Group. Prior to joining the Law School in 2011, she was a PhD fellow of the Adenauer Foundation at the Europa-Institute, Saarland University, Faculty of Law and Economics. Her PhD in competition law was supervised by Professors Helmuth Schröter and Torsten Stein and awarded ‘summa cum laude’. During her PhD, she worked as a national expert with the College of Europe, Bruges (DG COMP project 2010/11), as a trainee with the Monopolies Commission in Bonn (2009), and as a Blue Book trainee with the European Commission in Brussels (2007/08). Previously, she completed the LL.M advanced diploma in Saarbrücken with a triple specialism in competition law, human rights law and world trade (examinations in German, English and French).

Research Supervision

I hold an LLB degree in law (four years), an LLM in law with specialisation in competition law and a PhD in competition law. I welcome MJur/PhD supervision in the following areas of competition law (UK, EU, and US antitrust law):

• Revisiting the Wider Goals of Antitrust Law under the Digital Markets Act and / or for Sustainability

• Algorithmic Cartels and Software-Driven Price Manipulation

• Data-Driven Abuse of Dominance (Facebook, Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft) and / or Algorithmic Discrimination

• Data Combinations in Unilateral Conduct and / or in Data-Driven Mergers and Theories of Consumer Harm

• Excessive Pricing in the Energy Sector and Consumer Dependence.

Primary supervisions: Ahmed Saim Pehlivanli (PhD), Chris Sherwin.

Completions (2): R Wieser (MJur), G Bandi (PhD secondary).

External MPhil/PhD degree examinations (4): University of Oxford (2015, 2018, 2019), KCL (2017).

External examiner: Edinburgh Law School (2021/2022).

Evidence of internal supervisions: student dissertations published in

• De Lege Ferenda (Cambridge Law Review) 6 (2023), 103-139, 37 p.
• Durham Law Review 6 (2022) 1-39, 40 p.
• European Competition Journal 17 (2021) 2, 407-436, 31 p.
• World Competition 41 (2018) 3, 419-452, 33 p.
• Commonwealth Law Bulletin 46 (2020) 2, 331-363, 34 p.
• European Competition Law Review: 2018, 39(2), 49-63, 18 p.; 2021, 42(9), 520-534, 32 p.; 40 (2019) 3, 107-113, 9 p.; 40 (2019) 2, 83-92, 13 p.

Research Grants

Anca is a recipient of prestigious academic scholarships:

• 2018/16 RIF £2,694
• 2017/15 DIBS £5,867
• 2014 CELS €2,100
• 2012/14: DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) fellowship
• 2011: Dr. Friedrich-Feldbausch-Stiftung Prize €900, Vereinigung der Freunde der Universität des Saarlandes €511, Adenauer Stiftung €1,022
• 2011: College of Europe, Bruges, competition law expert for a project funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition €3,900
• 2006/10: Adenauer Foundation doctoral fellowship €44,600
• 2007/08 EC Blue Book traineeship €4,815
• 2004/05: Federal Foreign Office Scholarship (Auswärtiges Amt) €12,022
• LLB (four-year) scholarship for exceptional merit.

• Competition law (UK/EU) and US antitrust law, policy and economics
• Abuse of a dominant position, mergers, cartels and state aid
• Competition policy and the intersection of competition law with consumer law and environmental sustainability
• Digital monopolies and data-driven mergers

• 2023: Selected research citations:
  • Advocate-General of the Court of Justice of the European Union: Opinion (Case RegioNet, May 5, 2022) Springer (2017)
  • European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition (competition authority): DG COMP Report (2016) ECLR (2012); EC Director-General for Competition Speech on the Object of Effects (2014) ICLQ (2014)
  • UK House of Parliament: House of Lords (2018) at 54 147 186 and 198 written evidence (2018) interviewed by BBC Radio 4
  • Intergovernmental organisation: OECD DAF/COMP (2020)1 31 Springer (2018)
  • reports commissioned for the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action 2016 CLR (2015) and 2022 Hart (2020)
  • digital markets strategy of the South Africa Competition Commission Hart (2020)
• 2022: ICN NGA for EC DG COMP (2017-2022): Non-Governmental Advisor to the International Competition Network for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition for the Cartel (2017/2018) and for the Unilateral Conduct Working Group (2018/2022) reporting on dominance in digital markets and on theories of harm and remedies.
• 2012: Dr. Friedrich-Feldbausch-Stiftung Prize:

Authored book

• Chirita, A. D. (2011). The German and Romanian Abuse of Market Dominance in the Light of Article 102 TFEU. Nomos. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783845230306

Book review

• Chirita, A. D. (2018). Publication review of Private Power, Online Information Flows and EU Law: Mind the Gap (Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2016) by Angela Daly. European law review, 43(6), 971-973
• Chirita, A. D. (2014). Review of Kiran Klaus Patel and Heike Schweitzer (eds), The historical foundations of EU competition law (Oxford University Press 2013). Irish journal of European law, 17(1), 145-148

Chapter in book

• Chirita, A. D. (in press). Exclusionary and exploitative abuse of consumer data. In M. Ioannidou, & D. Mantzari (Eds.), Research Handbook on Competition Law and Data Privacy. Edward Elgar Publishing
• Chirita, A. D. (2020). Data-Driven Mergers under EU Competition Law. In O. Akseli, & J. Linarelli (Eds.), The future of commercial law : ways forward for change and reform (147-183). Hart Publishing. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781509914722.ch-007
• Chirita, A. D. (2018). The Rise of Big Data and the Loss of Privacy. In M. Bakhoum, B. Conde Gallego, M. Mackenordt, & G. Surblytė-Namavičienė (Eds.), Personal data in competition, consumer protection and intellectual property law : towards a holistic approach? (153-189). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-57646-5_7
• Chirita, A. D. (2017). The Disclosure of Evidence under the ‘Antitrust Damages’ Directive 2014/104/EU. In V. Tomljenović, N. Bodiroga-Vukobrat, V. Butorac Malnar, & I. Kunda (Eds.), EU competition and state aid rules : public and private enforcement (147-173). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-47962-9_8
• Chirita, A. D. (2016). Procedural Rights in EU Administrative Competition Proceedings: Ex Ante Mergers. In C. Cauffman, & Q. Hao (Eds.), Procedural rights in competition law in the EU and China (59-99). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-48735-8_4
• Chirita, A. D. (2012). The Impact of Directive 2011/83/EU on Consumer Rights. In A. Keirse, & M. Loos (Eds.), Alternative ways to ius commune : the Europeanisation of private law (65-82). Intersentia
• Chirita, A. D. (2012). Legal Interpretation and Practice versus Legal Theory: A Reconciliation of Competition Goals and a Reply to Andriychuk. In D. Zimmer (Ed.), Goals of competition law (118-131). Edward Elgar Publishing
• Chirita, A. D. (2007). Abuzul de Poziţie Dominantă în Dreptul Românesc al Cartelurilor în Lumina Dreptului European şi German. In Second Public Romanian-German Colloquium on European Law (221-249). Universitaria, Craiova,

Journal Article

• Chirita, A. D. (2023). Data-Driven Unfair Competition in Digital Markets. Journal of Science & Technology Law, 29(2),
• Chirita, A. D. (2022). Abuse of Global Platform Dominance or Competition on the Merits?. Loyola consumer law review, 33(1), 1-37
• Chirita, A. D. (2018). Competition Policy's Social Paradox: Are We Losing Sight of the Wood for the Trees?. European Competition Journal, 14(2-3), 367-416. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441056.2018.1533366
• Chirita, A. D. (2018). Google Android: Record-Breaking Fine on Anti-Competitive Practices Under Article 102 TFEU
• Chirita, A. D. (2015). The Judicial Review of the European Union Industrial Cartels. Zeitschrift für europarechtliche Studien, 18(4), 407-441. https://doi.org/10.5771/1435-439x-2015-4
• Chirita, A. D. (2015). Google's Anti-competitive and Unfair Practices in Digital Leisure Markets. Competition law review, 11(1), 109-131
• Chirita, A. D. (2014). A Legal-Historical Review of the EU Competition Rules. International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 63(2), 281-316. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0020589314000037
• Chirita, A. D. (2014). The Impact of the European Union Current Crisis on Law, Policy and Society. The Cambridge yearbook of European legal studies, 16, 255-288. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1528887000002615
• Chirita, A. D. (2014). Recent Developments in EU Cartels
• Chirita, A. D. (2012). Cross-Border Service Payments under EU Fair Competition and SEPA Rules. European Competition Journal, 8(2), 403-428. https://doi.org/10.5235/ecj.8.2.403
• Chirita, A. D. (2012). Recent Abuse of Dominance and Cartel Cases. European Competition Law Review, 33(5), 227-236
• Chirita, A. D. (2011). Concurenţa comercială şi proprietatea industrială în dreptul Uniunii Europene
• Chirita, A. D. (2011). Access to Essential Facilities: A Comparative Competition Law Perspective of Shared Use and Recent Margin
• Chirita, A. D. (2011). Accesul la Facilităţi Esenţiale: O Perspectivă Comparativă a Dreptului Concurenţei Comerciale Referitoare la Folosirea Comună şi Cazuri Recente Privind Preţurile Forfetare. Concurenţa (Bucureşti), 38-48
• Chirita, A. D. (2010). Undistorted, Un(fair) Competition, Consumer Welfare and the Interpretation of Article 102 TFEU. World Competition, 33(3), 417-436
• Chirita, A. D. (2009). The EC Commission’s Guidance Paper on the Application of Article 82 EC: An Efficient Means of Compliance for Germany?. European Competition Journal, 5(3), 677-700. https://doi.org/10.5235/ecj.v5n3.677
• Chirita, A. D. (2008). The Analysis of Market Dominance and Restrictive Practices under German Antitrust Law in Light of EC Antitrust Law. European Competition Journal, 4(2), 415-441. https://doi.org/10.5235/ecj.v4n2.415
• Chirita, A. D. (2008). The Abuse of Dominant Market Position under Romanian Antitrust Law in Light of European Antitrust Law. European Competition Law Review, 29(3), 162-170

Presentation

• Chirita, A. D. (2018, December). HM Treasury's Digital Competition Expert Panel. Paper presented at HM Treasury's Oral Evidence Round Table, The Law Society, London
• Chirita, A. D. (2017, December). The Shape of UK Competition Law post Brexit: an Inquiry into the History and Evolution of British Competition Laws and Institutions. Paper presented at Brexit Lecture Series, Durham Law School
• Chirita, A. D. (2017, December). Impact of Economic Efficiency on Employment: A Case Study of Mergers and Acquisitions. Paper presented at Durham Law School Staff Seminar, Durham, England
• Chirita, A. D. (2016, December). Chairing the Panel on 'Competitive Markets, Competitive States: Business, Trade, and Labor in Europe'. Paper presented at The 23rd International Conference of Europeanists, Pennsylvania, U.S.A
• Chirita, A. D. (2018, December). Data-Driven Mergers under EU Competition Law. Paper presented at Conference on the 'Effects of Digitalization, Globalization, and Nationalism on Competition Law, New York University School of Law, USA
• Chirita, A. D. (2018, December). The Crossroads of Competition, Technology and Big Data. Paper presented at Competition Policy 2018: The relationship between antitrust, innovation and investment, Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London
• Chirita, A. D. (2017, December). Data-Driven Mergers under US Anti-Trust and EU Competition Law. Paper presented at The Future of Commercial Law: Ways Forward for Harmonisation, Durham, England
• Chirita, A. D. (2016, October). Impact of Economic Efficiency on Employment: A Case Study of Mergers and Acquisitions. Paper presented at 82nd International Atlantic Economic Society Conference., Washington, DC, USA
• Chirita, A. D. (2016, December). Resilient Neo-Liberalism by Means of Promoting Fierce and Efficiency-Driven Free Market Competition. Paper presented at The 23rd International Conference of Europeanists, Pennsylvania, U.S.A
• Chirita, A. D. (2016, December). The EU Competition Policy's ‘Social' Paradox: Moving Towards ‘Full' Employment with Austerity?. Paper presented at 28th Annual Meeting Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Berkeley, University of California, U.S.A
• Chirita, A. D. (2015, April). The Disclosure of Evidence under the Antitrust Damages Directive 2014/104/EU. Paper presented at The 4th Petar Šarčević international scientific conference : EU competition and state aid rules : interaction between public and private enforcement., Rovinj, Croatia

Report

• Chirita, A. D. (2022). Written Evidence to the CMA on competition for environmental sustainability. [No known commissioning body]
• Chirita, A. D. (2018). Written Evidence to HM Treasury's Digital Competition Expert Panel. [No known commissioning body]
• Chirita, A. D. (2017). Written Evidence to the House of Lords' EU Internal Market Sub-Committee on Brexit: competition inquiry. [No known commissioning body]