On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (“EC”) published a new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and guidelines on vertical restraints (“Vertical Guidelines”) that will enter into force on 1 June 2022. The package introduces important changes for the treatment of distribution agreements under EU competition law, in particular to the rules governing the combination…
Exactly one year after the European Commission (Commission) proposed the Anti-Subsidy Regulation (the Regulation) (discussed on KCLB already here and here), on May 5, 2022, EU legislators launched their “trilogue” negotiations to reach an agreement on the final text. The Regulation is a global first. It combines elements of traditional merger control, EU State aid review…
In 2017 the ECJ decided in its CTL Logistics judgment (C‑489/15, CTL Logistics, ECLI:EU:C:2017:834) that national civil courts must not examine railway charges if they fall under the competence of a railway regulator under Directive 2001/14/EC (now Directive 2012/34/EU) under equity (§ 315 German Civil Code, “BGB”). AG Ćapeta recently suggested reconsidering this case law…
In the coming years, data collected by vehicles will be subject to a new EU regulatory regime consisting of horizontal rules applicable across many industries and vertical rules designed specifically for the automotive sector. In February 2022, the EU Commission adopted a proposal for a new Data Act, which is currently working its way through…
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded the territory of Ukraine and triggered the largest European war since 1945. The war has led to unprecedented loss of human lives and the biggest refugee crisis since World Word II, according to the UNHCR. At this stage, the economic impact of the war is difficult to predict. Some…
Debates amongst competition scholars and practitioners have been buzzing with references to sustainability recently. Several books and articles were written about the topic in the last two years and several competition agencies have written position papers about it. Most of the debate about the interaction between competition law and sustainability concerns agreements between competitors that…
The Commission’s draft chapter on sustainability cooperation may surprise even those following the debate about EU antitrust policy and sustainability closely. A more worldly approach to benefits, a new and useful tailored safe harbour for sustainability standards, plus a good first attempt to keep sustainability cooperation out of Article 101.1 (or at least the ‘by…
Better late than never. Last year’s recap post on European Union competition law and policy developments already was quite long (see post here). This year’s post might even be longer. Sorry, dear readers, nothing much I can do – 2021 was a very busy year. Article 101 – of principles, evaluation of rules and…
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…
Advocate General Rantos delivered his Opinion in a request of a preliminary ruling by a Spanish court (case C-267/20), the Audiencia Provincial of León, the appellate court in a trucks’ cartel damages claim. In particular, Advocate General Rantos Opinion deals with the temporal scope of application of the Damages Directive; the “substantive” or “procedural” nature…
