European Commission

Austria, Competition proceedings, Confidentiality, Damages, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Digitisation, Disclosure, Enforcement, European Commission, Evidence, Germany, National competition authorities (NCAs), Procedures, Proportionality, Regulation

(University of Vienna, Austria) and (University of Vienna)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) introduced an innovative framework aimed at promoting contestability and fairness in digital markets. In addition to imposing a multitude of substantial obligations on gatekeepers, the DMA incorporates a sophisticated and multi-faceted enforcement system. The European Commission assumes the primary role as the enforcer of the DMA, while the Member States…

China, European Champions, European Commission, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation

(Stibbe)/ /Leave a comment

The FSR and public procurement The primary objective of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) is to address the influence of foreign subsidies that may distort the integrity of the EU’s internal market. This encompasses scenarios where recipients gain an unfair advantage enabling them to secure public procurement contracts within the EU at the expense of…

Apps, Designation Decision, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Enforcement, Equal treatment, European Commission, Fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND), Google, Self-preferencing

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) became entirely applicable on 7 March 2024. By then, the gatekeepers issued their compliance reports documenting their technical solutions and implementation of the DMA’s provisions under Article 11 DMA as well as their reports on consumer profiling techniques as required under Article 15 DMA (see here). I will be covering…

App stores, Apple, Designation Decision, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) became entirely applicable on 7 March 2024. By then, the gatekeepers issued their compliance reports documenting their technical solutions and implementation of the DMA’s provisions under Article 11 DMA as well as their reports on consumer profiling techniques as required under Article 15 DMA (see here). During the following week,…

App stores, Apple, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, Fines, Proportionality, Unfair trading practices

(Leiden University)/ /Leave a comment

After almost three years since the Commission sent Apple its statement of objections, which was significantly trimmed down, the Commission reached a finding of abuse for which it imposed a whopping fine of 1.8 billion euros. Alongside this case, Apple was also involved in an almost identical case running parallel in the Netherlands, with similar…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Legislation

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

What a difference five years make. In 2019, the European Union (EU) created a modest common framework for foreign direct investment (FDI) screening, Regulation 2019/452 (the FDI Regulation), stressing that decisions on proposed investments, and even the decision whether to engage in FDI screening at all, remained with EU Member States. A pandemic and two…

Amazon, App stores, Apple, Apps, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Europe, European Commission, Ex ante regulation, Facebook, Google

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) is now applicable. Following the 6-month interim period where gatekeepers had the opportunity to adapt their business models to the regulation, the DMA now requires them to prove their effective compliance with its provisions. To do that, on 7 March 2024, the six designated gatekeepers in September (see here) presented…

European Commission, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation

, , (White & Case) and (White & Case, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

The first months of application of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) have involved a large number of notifications, lengthy and wide-ranging requests for information, and the opening of the first in-depth investigation. We take a look at the key highlights from the FSR’s opening period and practical implications for companies navigating the still quite…

European Commission, Market definition

(University of Glasgow)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 February 2024, the Commission published the long-awaited final text of the revised Market Definition Notice. Over a quarter of a century after the adoption of the first Market Definition Notice in 1997, we have a new and improved version ready for the modern age. The revised Notice covers a lot of ground: it…

Data protection, Designation Decision, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, General Court of the European Union, Interim measures, Interim relief

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has not managed to suspend the effects of the European Commission’s designation decision (for comment on the designation decisions, see here). However, the appeal that ByteDance directed at the designation decision will be given the benefit of an expedited procedure. This is the first time that the General Court uttered a…