Competition law, Concentrations, Digital markets, Ex ante regulation, Joint ventures, Mergers, Netherlands, Online platforms, Uncategorized

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Introduction On 20 May 2020 the Dutch competition authority (“ACM”) conditionally cleared a new joint venture between transport company Pon Netherlands B.V. (“Pon”) and Dutch rail operator NS Groep N.V. (“NS”) creating a Mobility as a Service (“MaaS”) platform. The case was referred to the ACM by the European Commission (“Commission”) under Article 9 of…

Abuse of dominance, Competition, Netherlands

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This blog is written by Pauline Kuipers and Janneke Kohlen, Bird & Bird LLP Introduction The Dutch competition authority, ACM, initiated a market study in 2018 into the effect of the introduction of biosimilars on the competition between TNF alfa inhibitors. TNF-alfa inhibitors are biological medicines that are mainly used by rheumatoid arthritis patients, but…

Competition law, E-commerce, Keyword bidding, Online advertising restrictions

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Introduction The growth of e-commerce over the last decade has had a significant impact on most if not all retail markets. Trends like the increased importance of online sales, price transparency and the emergence of new market players such as online platforms significantly affected the distribution and pricing strategies of both manufacturers and retailers, not…

Abuse of dominance, Competition law, Digital markets, Netherlands

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After Google has been fined several times for breach of (EU) competition rules the last couple of years, it might now be Apple’s turn. Last month (March 2019), Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission. The Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets (“ACM”) immediately responded by stating that ACM is finalizing its…