Duopoly, Pharmaceuticals, Regulation, Ukraine

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The Problem Ukraine’s decade-long selective distribution practices in the pharmaceutical market are currently facing unparalleled antitrust scrutiny. This follows the introduction of controversial new regulation that reflect a growing trend: substituting timely, targeted market failure interventions and adequate enforcement with legislative restrictions that are economically unsound and severely undermine decades of the established commercial strategies….

Competition Law 2024, Ukraine

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2024 marked the third year in which the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) exercised its statutory powers amid the challenges of the full-scale war. Yet, as of 2025, the regulator has demonstrated remarkable agility, remaining fully operational – reviewing merger control notifications, commencing investigations, issuing decisions, as well as dedicating significant efforts to aligning Ukrainian…

Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Merger regulation

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

Executive Vice President (EVP) Ribera is on a “mission impossible” to develop a “new approach to competition policy” “support[ing] European companies to innovate, compete and lead world-wide and contribut[ing] to our wider objectives on competitiveness and sustainability, social fairness and security.”  EVP Ribera was particularly tasked with revising the European Commission’s (Commission’s) decades-old guidelines on…

Abuse of dominance, Judicial review, Switzerland

, , (Lenz & Staehelin)/ /1 Comment

The proceedings against Vifor Pharma/HCI Solutions In December 2016, the Swiss Competition Commission (ComCo) fined HCl Solutions AG (HCI) around CHF 4.5 million for abuse of a dominant market position. HCI, a subsidiary of Vifor Pharma Participations AG (Vifor), operates, among other things, the “Compendium” of electronic drug information and user-specific INDEX databases (e.g. “medINDEX” for…

Competition enforcement, Legislation, Presumptions, Procedures

, (Baker Botts LLP )/ /Leave a comment

Legal presumptions play an important role in competition enforcement. They can translate decades of judicial experience and economic learning into workable, practical tools for efficient enforcement of the competition laws and provide predictability and clarity to companies seeking to comply with those laws. In the past few years, presumptions have been increasingly introduced to streamline…

Germany, Labour market, Merger control

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Merger control has long been a cornerstone of competition enforcement in Germany, with the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) known for wielding its mandate decisively and not shying away from blocking notifiable deals if they are perceived to cause competitive harm. One example was the prohibition of CTS Eventim’s acquisition of the booking agency Four Artists…

Legislation, Market definition, Merger control, Merger notification, Sweden

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The Swedish Competition Authority (“SCA”) is sharpening its tools for tackling harmful mergers. On 27 March 2025, the Authority adopted new regulations and general guidelines for merger notifications. The new regulations extend the list of documents and market data that must be included in the notification, increase the expectations for the parties to engage in…

Competition policy, Digital economy, Regulation, United States of America

(Georgetown Law and Harvard Kennedy School)/ /Leave a comment

This article makes a modest pitch: The Trump‑Vance Administration should hire venture capitalists (“VCs‑in‑Residence”) in antitrust agencies to help predict the trajectory of emerging technologies. Just as antitrust agencies enlisted technologists to understand the technology behind today’s challenges, they should now partner with VCs to anticipate the technology ahead. The Republican senator from Ohio declared:…

Digital markets, European Union, Self-preferencing, Tying and Bundling, Whatsapp

(University College London) and (University of Cambridge)/ /Leave a comment

In March 2025, Meta rolled out its AI assistant in Europe, which is accessible through its WhatsApp Messenger and will soon be available on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, too. The feature grants users of its platforms access to a “reliable and intelligent assistant” via a “new blue circle icon” on the apps. Trans-Atlantic observers may…

Competition enforcement, Digital markets, Exclusionary Abuse, Google, Japan

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Google’s ‘Be Evil’ transformation (if not merely a narrative) and the antitrust efforts to avenge it (if not exact revenge) are no longer novel. Most notably, following Judge Amit P. Mehta’s historic 2024 ruling from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against Google’s exclusive agreements, including ISA (Internet Services Agreement), MADAs (Mobile…