The year 2024, in Malta, has seen the first (ever) merger control prohibition decision, a number of ongoing antitrust investigations, and the overturning of a ‘margin squeeze’ judgement by the Competition and Consumer Affairs Appeals Tribunal (an appeals body that has since been abolished) (“Competition Appeals Tribunal”) dating back to 2014. In September 2024 the…
Introduction and summary The year 2024 brought us a lot of developments in Norwegian competition law, including the largest fine ever imposed by the Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) for violations of competition law, the proposal of a new market investigation tool that will grant the NCA extensive powers to tackle competition challenges, alongside a continued…
The recent Google Shopping ruling has already sparked much debate, and an earlier blog post offers a detailed overview of the judgment itself. Building on this, this contribution’s focus is to emphasize and discuss some aspects in the academic analysis, the judgment’s broader implications and outlook for further actions. It builds upon a recently published…
Key message The discretion afforded to the European Commission (‘EC’) is of central importance with regard to the implementation and enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA’). If viewed as arbitrariness, particularly in view of a normative framework that arguably permits such a perspective, the European Commission’s decisions may potentially jeopardise the rule of law…
The application of competition rules to the conduct and concentrations of employers has been called ‘the new frontier for competition policy’ (see here). This so-called ‘labour antitrust’ has been growing rapidly especially on the other side of the Atlantic over the last fifteen years (see here). ‘All eyes are on labor’ in the United States…
After years of planning and debate, the UK’s Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Act will come into force on 1 January 2025. This landmark legislation provides expanded powers to the CMA in respect of merger control, digital markets, competition and consumer protection. The DMCC The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC) is the final…
Five years ago, the EU adopted the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Regulation as a key trade measure to address an increasingly complex geopolitical stage. Since it became applicable, in 2020, the number of FDI regimes in place in Europe has almost doubled (from 14 to 24), leading to an aggregate screening of over 4,000 transactions…
Introduction On 03.12.2024, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) announced that the Competition Board (“Board”) had adopted the Guidelines on Competition Infringements in Labour Markets (“Guidelines”) with its decision dated 21.11.2024 and numbered 24-49/1087-RM(4), following the publication of the Draft Guidelines on Competition Infringements in Labor Markets (“Draft Guidelines”) and the receipt of public feedback. The…
The term “Assignment Model” refers to a mechanism of bundling damage claims. It is not a statutory instrument, but in some Member States, such as Germany, it is possible as a workaround. The Landgericht Dortmund (Regional Court of Dortmund) decided on referring to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling in the Roundwood Case asking about…
By most indicators, the Generative AI or GenAI ecosystem is a dynamic and competitive space. GenAI is estimated to generate $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion in value for the global economy. There has been a substantial influx of venture capital investments backing innovative start-ups. Since ChatGPT launched in 2022, there are now more than 310 large…
