European Commission

Antitrust, Competition, Consumer welfare, Enforcement, Europe, European Commission, European Union, Policy, United States of America

(College of Europe, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

The proceedings brought by the European Commission against Google are nearing a – provisional – end with the prospect of a decision making binding on Google a revised set of commitments (see here for the Commission statement and here for the full text of the proposed commitments). Independently of their merits in addressing the Commission’s…

Competition, Enforcement, Europe, European Commission, European Union, State aid

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 October 2013, it was announced that the nuclear industry would not be included in the European Commission’s draft Guidelines on environmental and energy aid for 2014-2020 as anticipated. Earlier in the year, a leaked copy of the draft Guidelines (which the author has read) set out six pages on how the Commission would…

European Commission, Mergers

(RBB Economics)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 July, the Commission published the non-confidential version of the decision in the Hutchison 3G Austria/Orange Austria case. The case, cleared subject to commitments following a Phase II investigation, represents a significant development in the Commission’s merger enforcement policy because, for the first time, the Commission has applied an Upward Pricing Pressure (UPP)-analysis as…

Competition, Europe, European Commission, European Union, Mergers

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

On 25 June 2013, the European Commission launched a public consultation entitled “Towards more effective EU Merger Control” in which the Commission proposes to (i) expand its powers to review non-controlling minority interests and (ii) streamline the case referral system between the Commission and NCAs. The proposals in respect of minority shareholdings will have a…

Antitrust, Competition, Dominance, Europe, European Commission, European Union

(Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP)/ /1 Comment

Over the last two months, the Commission has been market testing commitments that Google has offered to resolve the Commission’s pending investigation. Many have made thoughtful comments (see for example here, here, and here). But there has also been criticism from the corner of some of Google’s competitors. I represent Google in the Commission’s proceedings…

Damages, European Commission

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Together with the publication of its proposed legislation to facilitate damage claims, the Commission has published a Practical Guide to the quantification of harm arising from infringements of the competition rules. The Practical Guide was published in draft form in 2011 (as draft Guidance Paper). Subject to a small number of additions, the changes relative…

Competition, Europe, European Commission, European Union, Mergers

(Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

Like the European Commission, I am confident that the European Merger Simplification Project will bring benefits for clients. As many commentators have affirmed, I do not doubt that the increase of the currently applicable market share thresholds for the identification of horizontally and vertically “affected markets” by 5 per cent to 20% and 30% respectively…

Antitrust, Competition, Consumer welfare, Europe, European Commission, European Union, Policy

(RBB Economics)/ /Leave a comment

On 31 January 2013, the European Commission (DG Internal Market) published a Green Paper on unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food and non-food supply chain in Europe. One of the issues that the Green Paper deals with is the use by some suppliers of territorial supply constraints – described as impeding retailers’ ability to…

Antitrust, Competition, Dominance, European Commission

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

Last week, the European Commission published on its website a revised explanatory note on how it conducts on-the-spot inspections of business premises where it suspects a company has breached competition law (so-called “dawn raids”). During a dawn raid the European Commission has the power to examine and copy not just hard copies of business records,…

Consumer welfare, European Commission

(Sidley Austin LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction The smart phone wars have led to heated discussions over standard setting in technology markets. It seems only a question of time before the standard setting debate spills over into other areas. My personal candidate is the standard setting that underpins product quality, origin and safety certification. Certification – where invisible features matter An…