Anticompetitive agreements, Canada

(Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada) and (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction The Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) has issued a statement (the “Statement”) clarifying its position on “no-poaching”, wage-fixing and other types of “buy-side” agreements between competitors that may affect employees and labour markets. In the Statement, the Bureau expresses its concerns about the possible anticompetitive consequences of such agreements and states that it would be…

Brexit, European Union, Merger control, United Kingdom

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

On 2 December 2020, the European Commission published a Notice to Stakeholders on Brexit and EU competition law.[1]  It essentially reflects the UK position as set out in CMA guidance published on 1 December 2020.[2] These papers are equivalent to the divorce papers governing the children’s custody. Who has the kids and when over the…

Europe, Poland, Regulation, Telecommunications, Trade between Member States

, (VVGB Advocaten/Avocats)/ /Leave a comment

Starting in 2016, the EU set out the shift to high-capacity 5G networks with the adoption of the “5G for Europe Action Plan”.[1]  These days, the buildout of the 5G network throughout Europe is starting.  Slovenia,[2] the Czech Republic,[3] Slovakia,[4] Portugal,[5] and Sweden[6] are among the first Member States to commence the 5G spectrum auctions…

Data protection, Digital economy, European Union, Regulation

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

On November 25, 2020, the European Commission (EC) published its proposed Data Governance Regulation (the DGR), which will create a new legal framework to encourage the development of a European single market for data.  The DGR, proposed in the EC’s February 2020 Digital Strategy, is the first of a wave of regulatory and antitrust reforms…

Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Digital economy, Google, Italy, Platforms, Remedies

(University of Mannheim)/ /Leave a comment

Competition authorities are increasingly scrutinizing Google around the globe: The European Commission was the first authority to investigate Google and has issued three record-level fines in Google Shopping, Google Android and Google AdSense. In the US, the DoJ has recently filed a complaint against Google with the US Supreme Court arguing that Google abuses its…

Digital economy, European Court of Justice, Jurisdiction, Private enforcement

(bureau Brandeis Paris)/ /Leave a comment

The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) issued today its judgment in Case C-59/19 Wikingerhof v. Booking.com. This ruling will certainly be of great interest to the corporate victims of abuses of a dominant digital platform. This judgment addresses both the nature of the action which alleged victims of…

Ecuador, Merger control, Restriction by object

(Pérez Bustamante & Ponce)/ /Leave a comment

Last week (November 17, 2020), Ecuador’s Executive Branch issued the second package of reforms to its competition regime this year (Executive Decree 1193). The two main changes have to do with merger control and with restrictions ‘by object’. Following last April’s implementation of an expedited concentration procedure, the new reform now seeks to reduce the…

Argentina, Competition policy, COVID-19

(FERREYRA ROMEA)/ /1 Comment

The new competition law 27,442 enacted in Argentina in 2018 paved the way to a refreshed model of competition law in Argentina. The new law promised to create an independent National Competition Authority and the implementation of a suspensory merger control regime, among others. However, the recent change in government and the irruption of the…

European Commission, European Court of Auditors, European Union, Merger control, Merger fees

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

The European Court of Auditors’ Special Report published on 19 November 2020 is an interesting read for a dark COVID winter evening: “The Commission’s EU merger control and antitrust proceedings: a need to scale up market oversight“.[1] In respect of merger control, the Report (and the European Commission’s Response to the ECA contained in it)…

Competition policy, European Commission, European Union

(Vienna University of Economics and Business)/ /Leave a comment

Spotlight on Europe’s ‘strategic autonomy’ The calls for Europe’s ‘strategic autonomy’ or ‘strategic sovereignty’ have been gaining increasing traction in Brussels policy circles over the past few years. With its origins in the fields of defence and security, the idea of Europe’s autonomy has started to resonate beyond these areas, extending to foreign and economic…