Anticompetitive agreements

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Green Deal, HBER, Horizontal, Netherlands, Sustainability

(Deloitte Legal)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 May 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published its evaluation of the Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations and the Guidelines on Horizontal co-operation agreements (“HGL”) (as reported here). The evaluation indicated that revision and clarity is needed in various areas, inter alia for sustainability agreements. The Dutch Authority for Consumer & Markets (“ACM”) announced on…

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition policy, European Commission, HBER, Horizontal

, , (White & Case) and (White & Case, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 May 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a staff working document (“SWD”) on its evaluation of the horizontal block exemption regulations on research & development and specialisation agreements (“H-BERs”) and the horizontal guidelines. The SWD is accompanied by an evaluation study, commissioned to provide qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the Commission’s evaluation. The findings show…

Anticompetitive agreements, Cartels, Competition law, European Union, Sport

(Universität Düsseldorf)/ /3 Comments

The Super League (SL) might have had the lifespan of a fly, the legal questions it raised will linger on. These legal issues are of particular importance for other sports, considering that comparable questions have been raised in European American football and basketball. Therefore, the legal issues associated with the SL have the potential to…

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Germany, Greece, Green Deal, Merger control, Netherlands, OECD, State aid, Sustainability

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

A February 4 conference on competition policy and the Green Deal sponsored by the European Commission’s (the Commission’s) Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) highlighted the divergences of opinions among antitrust officials and other stakeholders on how competition policy should support sustainability objectives.  DG COMP aims to take a leading role on sustainability issues; its October-November…

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition enforcement, European Court of Justice, France, National competition authorities (NCAs), Public procurement

, (Latham & Watkins LLP)/ /1 Comment

On 25 November 2020, the French Competition Authority (FCA) announced that it was amending its decision-making practice regarding responses to calls for tenders by subsidiaries of the same group. Up until now, the FCA considered that it was unlawful for subsidiaries of the same group to submit separate tenders in the same public procurement procedure…

Anticompetitive agreements, Canada

(Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP, Canada) and (Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction The Canadian Competition Bureau (“Bureau”) has issued a statement (the “Statement”) clarifying its position on “no-poaching”, wage-fixing and other types of “buy-side” agreements between competitors that may affect employees and labour markets. In the Statement, the Bureau expresses its concerns about the possible anticompetitive consequences of such agreements and states that it would be…

Anticompetitive agreements, Dawn raids, Labour market, Türkiye, Wage fixing

, , (ACTECON)/ /Leave a comment

Anti-competitive practices in the labor markets have generally not been on the radar of the competition watchdogs. Given the increase in the number of cases dealing with the labor markets within the last five years, this appears to change. The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) contributed to that shift by publishing on May 6, 2020 another…

Abuse of dominance, Anticompetitive agreements, COVID-19, Excessive pricing, Türkiye

, , (ACTECON)/ /1 Comment

The Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) on March 23, 2020 gave its heads up to undertakings that it was “closely following the price increases”, which it referred to as “opportunistic” during the pandemic[1]. As such, the TCA warned in its announcement that it will impose the highest fines allowed by the Turkish Competition Law on all…

Abuse of dominance, Anticompetitive agreements, COVID-19, Exemptions, India

(Jindal Initiative on Research in IP and Competition (JIRICO))/ /1 Comment

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been very prompt with adopting various measures to continue its working during this period of pandemic. The CCI has issued several circulars and public notices from time to time to keep people updated about its functioning.[1] The CCI is currently functioning at a reduced capacity and most of…

Anticompetitive agreements, Joint ventures, Merger control, Netherlands

(Bird & Bird, The Netherlands), (Bird & Bird, Netherlands), and , (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Background On 20 December 2019, the Dutch Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) published a decision in which the commitment to dissolve the joint venture Port Towage Amsterdam (PTA) by two port towing undertakings was confirmed. This joint venture was created by the undertakings Svitzer and Iskes. ACM believed that the cooperation between the two…