European Commission

Anticompetitive agreements, European Commission, Exemptions, Guidelines, Horizontal, National competition authorities (NCAs), Netherlands, Sustainability

, , (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Sustainability as a policy priority It is no news that sustainability is an important topic of competition policy across the EU. There is clear consensus that competition law enforcement should be careful not to hinder cooperation between companies, even competitors, that facilitates the realisation of or progress towards reaching sustainability goals of climate policy (or…

Dutch clause, European Commission, General Court of the European Union, Gun jumping, Killer acquisitions, Merger control

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

On September 6, 2022, the European Commission (Commission) announced that it had prohibited the acquisition by Illumina Inc., a U.S company supplying sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis, of Grail LLC, another U.S. company that develops blood tests for the early detection of cancers, under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR).  Grail has…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment

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

Regulation 2019/452 (as amended, the FDI Regulation) inserted the European Commission (the Commission) into a hitherto jealously guarded area of EU Member State authority – screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) for threats to security and public order.  The FDI Regulation sets out minimum requirements for Member States’ FDI screening regimes and a mechanism for…

European Commission, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Hungary, Merger control, Mergers

(Pérez-Llorca, Spain) and (Pérez-Llorca)/ /Leave a comment

Background The recent proliferation of foreign direct investment regimes (“FDI”) in Europe baffles practitioners and deal makers alike.  Why is my acquisition of, say, a developer of grapes in Spain potentially subject to CFIUS-like rules?  Can my carefully crafted leveraged buyout of a niche Polish producer of NFTs derail out of national security concerns because…

Abuse of dominance, Amazon, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, European Union, National competition authorities (NCAs), Ne bis in idem

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The final text of the DMA, after the Council’s final approval last 18th July, opened up, yet again, speculation on its enforcement. Although the Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton promptly confirmed that DG Connect would be the Directorate to apply and oversee the compliance of the DMA’s rules and obligations, several questions still…

Anticompetitive agreements, Antitrust, Collusion, Economics, European Commission, Guidelines, Horizontal, Joint Bidding, Pharmaceuticals, Price fixing, Restriction by object

(Szecskay Attorneys-at-Law, Hungary)/ /Leave a comment

The European Commission’s horizontal guidelines are an invaluable tool for practitioners in antitrust compliance work. The team at Unit A1 in DG COMP have done a great job at further developing the guidelines in the new draft that was published for stakeholder comments on 1 March 2022. Today, the EU & Competition team at Szecskay…

European Commission, HBER, Horizontal

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

On 1 March 2022, the European Commission (“EC”) published for consultation two draft revised horizontal block exemption regulations (“HBERs”) on research & development (“R&D”) and specialisation agreements, as well as draft revised horizontal cooperation guidelines (“Horizontal Guidelines”). The EC’s stated aim is to make it easier for companies to cooperate in areas such as R&D…

Data protection, European Commission, European Union

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

On 23 February 2022, the EU Commission published its long-awaited Data Act, the last major building block of the Commission’s February 2020 Data Strategy.  The Data Act Is an ambitious piece of legislation with implications for consumers and businesses across the economy, not limited to the technology sector.   The act aims to facilitate access to…

European Commission, Information exchange, VBER, Vertical agreements, Vertical restraints

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

As part of its review of the EU antitrust rules governing vertical agreements, the European Commission (EC) has published for consultation a draft new section of its Vertical Guidelines, which contains proposed guidance on information exchange in “dual distribution” relationships. Reacting to feedback from stakeholders, the EC has adjusted the review test it proposed in…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Merger control, Subsidies

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

The European Union (EU) is readying revolutionary new powers for the European Commission (the Commission) to combat distortions of competition resulting from subsidies from non-EU governments.  The new regime, laid out in a proposed regulation (the Anti-Subsidy Regulation) published in May 2021, could be in effect as soon as mid-2023.  The regulation includes new mandatory notification…