Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Japan, Regulation, Remedies

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

Japan is now the fourth region in the World to have adopted complementary rules to its competition law regime to capture the power of Big Tech. Following Germany’s, the UK’s and the European Union’s steps, Japan in June the Act on Promotion of Competition for Specified Smartphone Software (for short, the Smartphone Software Competition Promotion…

Canada, Legislation, Mergers

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

On June 20, 2024, the Canadian Parliament passed important changes to Canada’s Competition Act (Act) with the enactment of Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023 (Bill C-59). The amendments to the Act contained in Bill C-59 mark the third (stage in the Canadian government’s extensive overhaul of Canadian competition law, which began…

Advocate General, Ancillary, European Court of Justice, Exemptions, Market definition, Pricing

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /1 Comment

On June 6, 2024, AG Collins rendered his opinion in the referral request by the Amsterdam District Court (“ADC”) regarding price parity clauses and product market definition in the context of litigation involving Booking.com (“Booking”), the online platform acting as an intermediary between end customers and hotels, also called online travel agent (OTA).   Summary…

Portugal, Sustainability

, (Morais Leitão)/ /Leave a comment

Both Member States and the European Union (‘EU’) have pledged their commitment to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (‘Agenda’) and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’). The Agenda represents a comprehensive common framework for sustainable development. The objective is to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by eradicating poverty,…

European Commission, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation

, (Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

It was only a matter of time before the European Commission (“EC“) launched its first ever in-depth investigation of an M&A transaction under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR“). On 10 June 2024, that time came: The EC referred the acquisition of the Czech telecom operator PPF Telecom Group B.V. (“PPF“) by the Emirates Telecommunications Group…

Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court

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

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) was initially designed according to a centralised system of enforcement. At least, that was the configuration the European Commission presented within its first draft of the regulation. During the legislative process, the DMA’s enforcement system slightly pivoted to a quasi-centralised system of enforcement. National competition authorities (NCAs) of the Member…

European Court of Justice, Fines, Interest

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

The European Court of Justice has issued its judgment in Deutsche Telekom confirming that the European Commission must pay “a standard rate” of interest to companies that have been awarded a reduction or annulment of their antitrust fine on appeal. The European Commission must now apply this clear ruling to a number of claims for…

Egypt, Legislation, Mergers

(Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 4th of April 2024, Egypt’s Prime Minister issued a decree by which the Executive Regulations of Competition Law No. (3) of 2005 was amended to put in detail the changes that had been made to the said Law introducing Egypt’s first pre-merger control regime. This blog post sheds light on the role of the…

Canada, Merger control, Minority shareholding

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

Introduction On April 23, 2024, the Canadian Competition Bureau (Bureau) issued its report (Report) on the proposed acquisition of Viterra Limited (Viterra) by Bunge Limited (Bunge), concluding that the transaction (Proposed Transaction) is likely to result in substantial anticompetitive effects in certain agricultural markets in Canada. Bunge and Viterra are both multinational agribusiness companies. In…

Competition policy, Denmark, Fines, Legislation, Mergers

(University of Copenhagen) and (Bech-Bruun)/ /Leave a comment

In May 2024, the Danish Parliament adopted a major overhaul of the Danish Competition Act, including introducing higher fines, a new competition tool, and a merger call-in option, effective from 1 July 2024. In particular, the call-in option will have drastic consequences, and in the future all mergers involving Danish activities could potentially become notifiable….