Apple, Digital, Digital economy, Germany, National competition authorities (NCAs), Self-preferencing

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Introduction On February 13, 2025, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office, “FCO”) sent its statement of objections to Apple regarding the App Tracking Transparency Framework (“ATTF”), setting out competition concerns based on a preliminary legal assessment (see press release here).  The FCO initiated proceedings under Section 19a ARC and Art. 102 TFEU on June 14, 2022…

Competition Law 2024, Germany

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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…

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

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On April 24, 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) rejected Amazon’s appeal against the decision of the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) of July 2022, designating Amazon as a gatekeeper under national competition law, Section 19a ARC.  The ruling clarifies important aspects of this provision designed to capture large digital companies (see translation of…

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

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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…

Competition Law 2023, Germany

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The following is a selection of some important developments in German competition law and policy in 2023.  It covers the latest competition law reform, cases under special rules for digital gatekeepers, abuse of dominance, merger control, antitrust (cartels, horizontal cooperation) and damages litigation.   11th Amendment of the ARC On November 7, 2023, the latest…

Competition Law 2022, Germany

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The following is a selection of some important developments in German competition law and policy in 2022.  It covers cases under the new rules for digital companies, abuse of dominance, merger control, antitrust (cartels, horizontal cooperation and vertical cases) and damages litigation.   Special rules for the digital companies – Section 19a ARC The Federal…

Competition Law 2021, Damages, Digital economy, Dominance, Enforcement, Germany, Horizontal, Judicial review, Litigation, Merger control, Online platforms, Price fixing, Rebates, Uncategorized

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The following is a selection of some of the most important developments in German competition law and policy in 2021.  It has been a busy year for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”), inter alia because the new rules for digital companies took effect.  The following covers cases under these new rules, abuse of dominance, merger…

Antitrust, Apple, Big data, Competition enforcement, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Dominance, Enforcement, Germany, Online platforms

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In January 2021, the latest reform of the German competition law (“ARC”) entered into force, including significant new rules regarding digital platform markets.  These include new powers for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) under Section 19a ARC regarding digital gatekeepers with paramount cross-market significance for competition (for more details on the new norm, see here). A…

Abuse of dominance, Antitrust, Cartels, Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition Law 2020, Competition policy, Concentrations, COVID-19, Damages, Digital competition, Germany, Merger control

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Despite the pandemic, 2020 has been a very busy year for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) and courts in the field of competition law in Germany.  The following is merely a selection of interesting developments.  It does not include the recently adopted reform of the Competition Act, which merits its own blog. Generally, the FCO…

Abuse of dominance, Competition enforcement, Competition law, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Germany, Legislation

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The government’s draft for new competition rules, including on (digital) platforms, published in September 2020 (see here) includes a provision specifically aimed at powerful digital gatekeepers, draft Section 19a ARC.  The proposal was debated in parliament on November 25, 2020, is largely expected to be adopted more or less in its current form and to…