European Union

Abuse of dominance, Commitments, Effects-based, European Commission, European Union, Investigations, Market definition, Tying and Bundling, Unfair trading practices

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Factual background During the summer of 2020, news came out about a claim made by Slack against Microsoft for abusing its dominance by tying Teams to the Microsoft and Office 365 software packages. The claim at the time was that Microsoft had been forcing millions of users to install Teams and denied them the possibility…

Abuse of dominance, Advocate General, Anticompetitive agreements, European Court of Justice, European Union, Sport, Sports law

(University of Michigan)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction One of the biggest controversies in European football right now is the fight between UEFA, Europe’s continental football association, and the European Super League (ESL), a proposed breakaway league composed of some of the biggest clubs and commercial names in the sport; a case arising out of the dispute recently reached the European Court…

Abuse of dominance, Book review, European Union

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

Platform regulation and the functioning of ecosystems have been two elusive concepts to tackle from a neutral perspective, away from the polarised narratives advocated by different schools of thought on both sides of the Atlantic. The General Court’s rulings in both Google Shopping and Google Android are good proof of that. Against this titanic challenge,…

Advocate General, European Court of Justice, European Union, Fundamental rights, Regulation, SGEI

(Backer McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

My previous comment on Case-50/21 Prestige and Limousine SL v Área Metropolitana de Barcelona et al (see here) started with the following question: “Are the Supposed Regulatory Privileges of the Taxi Sector Coming to an End? The Opinion of AG Szpunar in Case C‑50/21”. The conclusions in the ECJ judgment of June 8, 2023 (Judgment)…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Merger notification, Mergers

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The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation took effect on 12 July 2023 to much fanfare. We take a look at the top five things PE funds need to know when considering acquisitions with a European footprint. The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (“FSR”) is the European Commission’s attempt to level the playing field for M&A deals by creating…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, State aid, United States of America

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

European Union and United States legislators are increasingly concerned about the potentially distortive effects “foreign” subsidies may have on M&A transactions. EU and US authorities are both poised to require transaction parties to provide extensive information to allow authorities to evaluate subsidies granted by other jurisdictions. How do these initiatives compare, and how will the…

Competition law, European Union, Merger control, Mergers, Simplification package

, , (Kirkland & Ellis, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

            On 20 April 2023 the EU Commission adopted a new legislative package aimed at simplifying its procedures for reviewing transactions under EU merger control rules. Under the new rules the Commission seeks to assess more cases under the simplified procedure and reduce overall reporting requirements by 25%. The new…

Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, European Union, Ex ante regulation, Regulation

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

Last 9 December, the European Commission issued its first draft implementing regulation for the DMA setting out the practical details surrounding the procedures around the gatekeeper’s designation (see the overview of the draft here). The feedback period surrounding the draft finished on 9 January 2023. On 14 April, the European Commission made public the first…

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

, (Cuatrecasas)/ /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…

European Union, Industrial policy, Recovery plan, State aid, Temporary Crisis Framework

(University of Glasgow)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction State aid rules have existed since the Rome Treaty and have a negative integration logic: Member States should refrain from distorting competition by helping their own undertakings (an in-depth analysis on state aid, in Hancher, Ottervanger and Slot, see here). These rules naturally trigger tension between what Member States can do with their money…