European Union

AI, Competition policy, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, European Union, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Innovation, Market investigations, Merger regulation, New Competition Tool, Objectives of Competition Law

(Centrum für Europäische Politik)/ /Leave a comment

As the European Commission prepares for a new mandate under President Ursula von der Leyen later this year, former ECB President Mario Draghi – famous for his “whatever it takes” approach to saving the Euro – has now turned his focus to the future of EU competitiveness in the digital age. His long-awaited report, commissioned…

Abuse of dominance, European Court of Justice, European Union, Market definition, Patent settlements, Pharmaceuticals

(Geradin Partners)/ /Leave a comment

On 27 June 2024, the EU Court of Justice (“CJEU”) issued its judgments in the Perindopril (Servier) case. The judgments follow a European Commission (“EC”) decision of 9 July 2014, and a series of General Court (“GC”) judgments of 12 December 2018 in relation to appeals against that EC decision. The case started with a…

Abuse of dominance, Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Exclusionary Abuse, Guidance, Presumptions

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

The European Commission has published for public consultation its long-awaited draft Guidelines on exclusionary abuses (draft Guidelines). The draft Guidelines aim at making it faster and easier for the Commission to pursue abuse of dominance cases, in particular by classifying a number of practices as “presumptively harmful”. This represents a marked departure from the 2008…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Guidance

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

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, or FSR, is intended to prevent or remedy distortions of the EU internal market caused by “foreign” – meaning non-EU – subsidies benefitting companies active in the EU.  The FSR draws on EU merger control, State aid and trade law, but it also introduces new legal concepts and procedures not…

Energy Policy, European Union, Netherlands, State aid

(Simmons & Simmons)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction This judgment of the Court of Justice (ECJ) of 13 June 2024 concerns the question if the European Commission (EC) may declare a national measure compatible with the internal market without first determining whether the measure constitutes aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. It might be said that it does not matter…

Cartels, Damages, Disclosure, European Court of Justice, European Union, Principle of Effectiveness

(University of Göttingen, Germany) and (University of Vienna, Austria)/ /Leave a comment

In recent years, the landscape of antitrust damages actions in the European Union has evolved significantly, guided by landmark rulings from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Our recent paper provides a comprehensive overview of these developments as part of the Yearbook on Procedural Law of the Court of Justice of the…

Competition policy, European Union, Internal Market, Policy

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

As it marked the 30-year anniversary of the Single Market, the European Council asked former Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, to set out his vision for the future of the Single Market including specific proposals for its development. Letta published his report last month which, he writes, is based on 400 stakeholders’ meetings in 65…

Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, European Union

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) entails a change in the narrative of the punitive framework applied to digital dominant undertakings under EU competition law. At least, that’s what the European’s digital strategy proposed it to be. The failure of antitrust followed a new paradigm in applying per se rules to gatekeepers, based on cooperative-like mechanisms…

European Commission, European Union, Labour market, No-poach-agreement, Restriction by object

(ZESA Attorney Partnership)/ /Leave a comment

On 3 May, the EC published a policy brief on labor markets. The existing legal framework allows the EC and EU national competition authorities to take decisive action against anticompetitive agreements in labor markets. Wage-fixing and no-poach agreements are detrimental to competition in labor markets and should generally be qualified as restrictions by object. Wage-fixing…

European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Mergers

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

It is often said that one of the greatest things about watching an important character is people wondering when he is going to make his comeback. In 2019, thirteen days after the prohibition of Siemens’ proposed acquisition of Alstom was published by the European Commission, Germany and France issued a public Manifesto ‘for a European industrial…