European Union

Abuse of dominance, Advocate General, European Court of Justice, European Union, Railway, Regulation

(bpv Hügel)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Connected cars, Data protection, Digital economy, Digitisation, European Union

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /1 Comment

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…

Competition law, ECN, European Union, Exemptions, Merger control, Russia, State aid, Ukraine

(College of Europe)/ /Leave a comment

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…

European Union, HBER, Horizontal, Sustainability

(University of Antwerp)/ /5 Comments

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…

European Union, HBER, Horizontal, Sustainability

(Baker McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Competition Law 2021, European Union

(University of Vienna, Austria)/ /1 Comment

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…

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…

Advocate General, Damages, European Union, Limitation Period, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Universitat Pompeu Fabra)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Abuse of dominance, Apple, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, European Union

(MINES ParisTech, PSL University)/ /1 Comment

The market power of big tech firms like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft (the GAFAM) has long been a thorn in the eyes of the European Commission (EC).[1] Ever since the EU drafted the Digital Markets Act[2] to regulate market power in the digital markets, they faced strong protests.[3] The widely received Epic-Apple court…

European Union, Fundamental rights, General Court of the European Union, Hybrid Settlement, Presumption of Innocence

(Max Planck Institute Luxembourg)/ /Leave a comment

The long-awaited judgement of the General Court in the price-fixing case against a world-leading provider of transport solutions, Scania, is out. On February 2, 2022, in a hybrid settlement case, the General Court dismissed the appeal filed by Scania. It upheld the decision of the Commission, which imposed a fine of € 880.5 million for…