2024 marked the 15th anniversary of the Autorité de la concurrence – previously the Conseil de la concurrence – (Press release, 12 November 2024), a record anniversary. Indeed, the French competition authority (“FCA”) has had a “historic year” with “€1.4 billion in fines imposed and a record 295 mergers examined” (Press Release, 15 January 2025). As the European Court of…
Recently, the European Union’s industrial policy has undergone a renaissance. Faced with mounting geopolitical uncertainties, increased global competition, and the urgency of “twin transitions” (digital and green), the EU has identified a pressing need to bolster strategic sectors, accelerate innovation, and ensure resilience within the internal market. The Letta and Draghi Reports can vouch for…
This year’s recap of the main developments of competition law and policy in Italy in 2024 will first provide a brief and general policy update, and then will discuss some of the main sector-specific developments (without any aspiration of being exhaustive). Then, we will provide some updates concerning the private enforcement of competition rules, as…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Alba Ribera Martínez, The Credibility of the DMA’s Compliance Reports The institutional setting of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September…
Year at a Glance 2025 saw a flurry of developments in Slovenian competition law, featuring all the hallmarks of antitrust enforcement. From market investigations in the food delivery sector to alleged bid rigging in IT procurement, it was an eventful year. Not to mention the abandoned mega-merger of grocery chains, which failed to resolve competition…
The following is a selection of some important developments in German competition law and policy in 2024. It covers the latest legislative changes for hospital mergers, cases under special rules for digital gatekeepers, abuse of dominance, merger control, the sector inquiry into charging stations for e-vehicles, antitrust (cartels, vertical price fixing and horizontal cooperation) and…
A cooperative organization which is composed of several other associations of undertakings and individual companies can be considered, at the same time, an undertaking and an association of undertakings for the purpose of applying Article 101 TFEU to the anticompetitive conduct of such an organization. It can be fined by taking into account its own…
The new European Commission (the “Commission”) has an ambitious mandate, with economic growth and competitiveness at its heart. On 29 January 2025, the Commission published a Communication entitled “A Competitiveness Compass for the EU” (“Compass”) to guide its work for the next five years. The Compass outlines a strategic framework aimed at enhancing the competitiveness…
In Denmark, the Danish Competition Council is the principal enforcer of competition law, with the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority acting as the day-to-day caretaker and rendering decisions in (minor) cases. Decisions made by either the Competition and Consumer Authority or the Competition Council may be appealed to the Danish Competition Appeals Board or the…
The power to conduct unannounced on-site inspections, commonly known as dawn raids, remains one of the most effective tools available to competition authorities in detecting anti-competitive practices. However, the digital transformation of business operations has introduced new complexities to these on-site inspections, particularly regarding the handling and preservation of electronic evidence. Recent decisions by the…
