doc__table__63

| 23. | Undertakings are subject to three main sources of competitive constraints, namely demand substitution, supply substitution and potential competition: (a) Demand substitution constitutes the most effective and immediate disciplinary force on the suppliers of a given product (46). An undertaking’s influence over prevailing conditions of sale – such as prices, the level of innovation or the quality offered – depends on the extent to which its customers can easily switch to available products that the customers consider as substitutes (47). Demand substitution is therefore the main consideration when defining the relevant product market. (b) Supply substitution can also be relevant for the definition of the relevant market in some cases, namely when it is as effective and immediate as demand substitution and when it leads to similar competitive conditions across the products concerned. In the Commission’s experience, supply substitution is only relevant for market definition in specific cases. (c) Potential competition, by contrast, comprises more remote and contingent competitive constraints that do not meet the criteria of effectiveness and immediacy of substitution (48). Therefore, potential competition is not relevant for the definition of the relevant market and it is not appropriate to include in the relevant product market current sales by a potential competitor of products that are not substitutable with the product(s) of the undertaking(s) involved from the perspective of the customers (49), or to expand the geographic market to include the areas where the potential competitor is already active with its products (50). The existence of potential competition requires an analysis of additional factors, including the likelihood, timeframe and magnitude of any market entry. The assessment of the impact of potential competition requires analysing how this affects or could affect the behaviour of the undertaking(s) involved. This is analysed in the competitive assessment.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.