European Court of Justice Archives - Page 3 of 10

Anticompetitive agreements, European Commission, European Court of Justice, European Union, Information exchange, Judicial review, Restriction by object, Rule of Law

Hybrid Settlements and The Presumption of Innocence: The ECJ Rubber Stamps the Commission’s Practice in HSBC Holdings and Others v Commission (C-883/19 P)

María López Ridruejo, Alejandro Yuste Herreruela (Cuatrecasas)/April 14, 2023April 11, 2023 /Leave a comment

On January 12th 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) issued its long-awaited judgment in C‑883/19 P HSBC v Commission setting aside the judgment of the General Court (GC) but confirming the European Commission’s finding that HSBC had participated in a cartel in the market for Euro Interest Rate Derivatives (EIRD). The judgment clarifies the procedural safeguards that…

Abuse of dominance, Advocate General, European Court of Justice, Ex ante regulation, Judicial review, Merger control, Merger notification, Merger Thresholds, Mergers

European Court of Justice Confirms that National Authorities Can Review Ex-Post Below-Threshold Mergers Under Abuse of Dominance Rules

Katarzyna Czapracka, Jérémie Jourdan, Assimakis Komninos, Tilman Kuhn, Nina Frie (White & Case)/March 30, 2023March 28, 2023 /Leave a comment

The long-awaited European Court of Justice’s judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national merger control thresholds and were not referred to the European Commission under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation. However, uncertainties still remain….

Abuse of dominance, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Court of Justice, European Union, Ex ante regulation, Hungary, Information exchange, Netherlands

The NCAs Piggyback on to the European Commission: Hungary and The Netherlands Trigger the Race for Monitoring National DMA Compliance

Alba Ribera Martínez (Deputy Editor) (University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/March 27, 2023March 27, 2023 /Leave a comment

On 13 March 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate of The Netherlands published the first draft of its implementing regulation (the ‘Draft Bill’) subject to public consultation until the 10th of April, to attribute its national competition authority (ACM) with the power to monitor compliance with the DMA in its national territory. The…

Costs, Damages, Disclosure, Estimation, European Court of Justice, Evidence, Liability, Litigation, Private actions, Private enforcement, Procedures

Of Adequate Cost Rules, Judicial Damages Estimation, and Fundamental Principles of Antitrust Damages Actions – Tráficos Manuel Ferrer, C-312/21

Lena Hornkohl (Deputy Editor) (University of Vienna, Austria)/February 17, 2023February 17, 2023 /Leave a comment

The judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in Tráficos Manuel Ferrer (C-312/21) provides some clarity on the compatibility of national cost rules and judicial damages estimation with EU primary law – the effective enforcement of EU competition law – and the rules of the Damages Directive. The CJEU followed AG Kokott’s opinion to…

Abuse of dominance, Advantage, As Efficient Competitor, Burden of Proof, Competition proceedings, Consumer welfare, Discrimination, Electricity, European Court of Justice, Italy, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court

Much Ado About Nothing? Italy’s SEN Antitrust Saga Comes to an End

Laura Zoboli (University of Brescia)/February 13, 2023February 6, 2023 /Leave a comment

Facts and court proceedings Before the start of the liberalization process in 1999 with Legislative Decree 79/1999 (“Decreto Bersani”), the Italian electricity market was run singlehandedly by the Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica (Enel), born with the nationalization of electricity in 1962. As the former Italian legal monopolist, Enel was integrated into all stages of the…

Damages, Disclosure, European Court of Justice, National competition authorities (NCAs), Railway, References for a preliminary ruling

Disclosure of Documents in Parallel Public and Private Enforcement of Competition Law – The ECJ’s Judgment in C-57/21 – RegioJet

Nils Imgarten (Deputy Editor) (University of Göttingen, Germany)/February 1, 2023January 30, 2023 /Leave a comment

The preliminary ruling of 12 January 2023 in RegioJet can easily be perceived as a continuation of the jurisprudence on disclosure rules that was developed by the European Court of Justice (the Court or ECJ) in the case of C-163/21 – PACCAR. The PACCAR case concerned specific questions of disclosure of documents, which were not…

Abuse of dominance, Discrimination, European Court of Justice, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court, References for a preliminary ruling, Regulation

First Stop Regulatory Body, Second Stop National Civil Courts: Jurisdiction to Apply Article 102 TFEU After DB Station and The Future of CityRail

Sebastian Reiter (bpv Hügel)/January 30, 2023January 26, 2023 /Leave a comment

Jurisdiction after DB Station At the end of last year, the ECJ rendered a much-anticipated ruling in the DB Station case (C-721/10), which fundamentally clarified the hierarchy between regulators and civil courts in abuse of dominance cases relating to regulated infrastructure sectors. After lengthy national proceedings, the ECJ decided that national civil courts can only…

Abuse of dominance, As Efficient Competitor, Economics, European Court of Justice, European Union, Exclusive dealing, Italy, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court, References for a preliminary ruling

EU Court of Justice Confirms That the Intel Effects-Based Approach Applies to Exclusive Dealing and Clarifies the Narrow Circumstances Under Which The Conduct of Distributors Can Engage The Liability of a Dominant Company

Katarzyna Czapracka, Assimakis Komninos, Niccolò Piga (White & Case)/January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 /Leave a comment

On 19 January 2023, the EU Court of Justice, answering questions from the Italian Council of State, confirmed that the Intel effects-based approach applies also to exclusive dealing practices and held that competition authorities must duly examine economic evidence produced by dominant undertakings. The court also held that, under certain narrow circumstances, conduct implemented by…

Abuse of dominance, European Court of Justice, European Union

EU Court of Justice Clarifies the Scope of the Essential Facilities Doctrine in Lithuanian Railways

Katarzyna Czapracka, Jérémie Jourdan, James Killick, Assimakis Komninos (White & Case) and Peter Citron (Editor) (White & Case, Belgium)/January 21, 2023January 18, 2023 /Leave a comment

On 12 January 2023, the EU Court of Justice upheld the EU General Court’s judgment imposing a fine on Lithuanian Railways for dismantling a section of the railway track. While reaffirming its essential facility case law (Bronner), the Court confirmed that the Bronner case law did not apply to the deliberate destruction of State-owned infrastructure…

Damages, Disclosure, European Court of Justice, Evidence, National court, Private enforcement, Proportionality

Disclosure of Evidence in Private Enforcement of Competition Law: Art. 5 of the Damages Directive and the Need for an Individual Balancing of Interests (Judgment in C-163/21 – PACCAR et al.)

Nils Imgarten (Deputy Editor) (University of Göttingen, Germany)/December 1, 2022December 1, 2022 /Leave a comment

On 10 November 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ or the Court) delivered its judgment in another private enforcement case, interpreting Art. 5 of Directive 2014/104/EU (the Damages Directive or the Directive). It answered the preliminary question raised by a Spanish First Instance Commercial Court that the disclosure of information or documents which do…