Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Union, Fines

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

Fast and furious: that was the premise that would make the DMA’s enforcement effective. Overcompensating for past grievances in the application of Article 102 TFEU in the digital markets in terms of speed and remedies justifies the DMA’s need for having regulatory teeth. And teeth it has. On 22 April 2025, the European Commission (EC)…

Competition policy, European Union, Sport, United States of America

(University of Oxford)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On March 27th, the NBA announced a plan to establish a new European basketball league. This league, which would be organised alongside FIBA, the global basketball regulator, would pose the latest challenge to the basketball landscape in Europe. It would also bring to the fore many of the legal and regulatory debates which have…

Austria, Competition Law 2024

(MMRA)/ /1 Comment

Cartels and Restrictive Agreements Cases Construction Cartel In 2024, the Cartel Court imposed several significant fines on additional construction companies for their participation in a nationwide cartel in the Austrian construction sector. The cartel is believed to have had a duration of more than 15 years from at least July 2002 to October 2017 and…

Competition policy, European Commission, Guidelines, Sustainability

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

European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera has her work cut out for her.  As Commissioner for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, she is not only responsible for steering the European Commission’s competition policy through 2029 –  a formidable task in itself – but also for coordinating the Commission’s Clean Industrial Deal alongside commissioners responsible…

Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

On 14 April 2025, Meta confirmed that it will start training its AI with publicly available data from Europeans so its models “can understand the incredible and diverse nuances and complexities that make up European communities”. Regardless of the wider repercussions of such a move from the data protection perspective, since Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and…

Competition Law 2024, Slovakia

, , (Havel & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In 2024, Slovak competition law continued to evolve, building on the developments in the previous year. The new leadership (the new chairman and vice-chairman were appointed in 2023), the Antimonopoly Office (AMO) has appeared to be remain committed to its stated goal of transforming itself to a more proactive and dynamic competition authority. The AMO’s…

Belgium, Competition Law 2024

, , , (Linklaters LLP)/ /Leave a comment

2024 was characterised by the BCA’s dedication to boost transparency in its operations and investigations through the publication of its expert opinions to Belgian Courts and legislators. The BCA remained a steady player within the EU competition enforcement landscape in 2024 with an active enforcement track record and important sector inquiries. Even if slightly less…

Commitments, European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Merger control, Merger notification, State aid, State owned enterprise (SOE), Telecommunications, United Arab Emirates

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

On 24 September 2024, the European Commission (EC) issued the long-awaited first decision (under phase II of the concentration tool) of the new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). It took another long wait of seven months, but a provisional public version of the commitment decision in the e&/PPF transaction (Case FS.100011) was published on 4 April…

Europe, Liability, Litigation, Private enforcement, State aid

(Szecskay Attorneys at Law, Hungary)/ /Leave a comment

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last decade, you’ll know that private enforcement of antitrust is now big business, spurred on by the Damages Directive and industrious claimant-side law firms. Yet, one key player remains curiously passive in many Member States: the State itself.   While public procurement markets are among the most vulnerable…

European Court of Justice, Limitation Period, Litigation, Private enforcement

(Uría Menéndez)/ /Leave a comment

Limitation periods are a gating item that determines if a claim will go forward. When arguing (and counter arguing) if a competition law damages claim is time-barred, the parties usually focus on the moment the period started running (i.e. the dies a quo) rather than the duration of the period or whether it was correctly…