Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Algorithms, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digitisation, E-commerce, Effects-based, European Union, Evidence, General Court of the European Union, Google, Online advertising, Online platforms, Self-preferencing

(University of Mannheim)/ /1 Comment

The long-awaited Google Shopping judgment is out (see the press release here and the full decision here). The General Court has dismissed Google’s action almost in its entirety, upholding the fine of € 2.42 billion that the EU Commission issued in 2017 on the company for abusing its dominance as a search engine by favouring…

Anticompetitive agreements, Cartels, Dawn raids, European Commission, European Union, Labour market, No-poach-agreement

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In a speech on 22 October 2021, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager revealed that the European Commission was planning a series of dawn raids for the months to come. She highlighted that the European Commission is not just looking to investigate traditional cartels, like price-fixing agreements, but also other types of anti-competitive conduct – such…

Anticompetitive agreements, Cartels, Evidence, Russia

(Elbert, Nazaretsky, Rakov & Co)/ /Leave a comment

On 9th November 2021, the Commercial Court of Moscow will decide an antitrust case between Russian insurance companies (PJSC Rosgosstrakh and LLC Capital Insurance of Life) and the Federal Antimonopoly Services (FAS). The FAS had previously declared an agreement between the two insurance companies invalid. The case concerns the blurring lines between cartels and other agreements in Russian antitrust law. Particularly the standard of proof concerning “other agreements restricting competition” needs to be…

Abuse of dominance, Discriminatory pricing, Norway

(University of Copenhagen)/ /Leave a comment

The Norwegian Competition Authority has issued a draft paper on abusive (price) discrimination, outlining how the agency plans to approach the matter, which should be most welcome. Essentially, the legal position is at best unclear, creating room for misapplications. The otherwise famous Post Danmark I case, e.g., originated in a misguided national attempt to apply…

Australia, Unfair competition

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The Australian Government has released the Exposure Draft legislation and Explanatory Materials for an anticipated suite of reforms to unfair contract terms (UCT) laws found in the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act). Treasury is now considering feedback on the exposure draft with a view to the…

World Competition Law and Economics Review

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We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   World Competition’s Editor, José Rivas, Interviews Mr Andreas Schwab, Rapporteur of the Digital Markets Act in the European Parliament See also this recent post on Kluwer Competition Law Blog: Digital Markets Act: Interview…

Damages, European Court of Justice, Liability, Parental liability, Private enforcement

(Latham & Watkins LLP)/ /1 Comment

On 6 October 2021, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its very much-awaited judgment in case C-882/19 Sumal, one of the most important cases in private enforcement of competition law of the last years. For those of you that are new to the case, the facts are as follows. On 24 October 2019, the Audiencia…

General Court of the European Union, Gun jumping, Merger control

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In April 2018, the European Commission (“EC”) imposed two fines on the multinational cable and telecoms company Altice (“acquirer”) in relation to its acquisition of PT Portugal (“target”), a telecommunications and multimedia operator.[1] The EC held that the acquirer both failed to notify the concentration prior to implementation under Article 4 of the EU Merger…

European Court of Justice, General Court of the European Union, Procedures, State aid

(Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 2 September 2021, the Court of Justice (C-57/19 P) overturned the Judgment of the General Court of 15 November 2018 in the case Tempus Energy v Commission (T-793/14). In its ruling, the Court of Justice provided extensive guidance on which elements may (not) give rise to “doubts” as to the compatibility of a State…

Netherlands, Resale price maintenance, VBER, Vertical agreements, Vertical restraints

(Bird & Bird, Netherlands) and (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

The Dutch competition authority ACM fined Samsung Electronics Benelux B.V. (“Samsung”) € 39,875,500 for coordinating the retail prices of Samsung television sets together with various retailers. The alleged coordination took place for five years, from January 2013 through December 2018. The ACM only published a summary of the decision dated 14 September 2021 thus far, but…