In light of recent information about new probes under the DMA and the DSA, and the growing interest in enforcement of the draft AI Act, we decided to explore what investigatory powers are available to the European Commission and local authorities under these regulations, and more specifically how the enforcing authorities can conduct dawn raids…
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…
Introduction Like many competition authorities, the European Commission (“Commission”) has far-reaching powers to ask for huge amounts of information for its competition law investigations (see Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2003, Articles 18 to 21). These days it is no longer just hard copy documents being asked for, but significant amounts of electronic data in specified formats…
Introduction Latin America as well as Chile, have developed a nascent practice in digital markets in the last years. According to a recent survey, between 2015 and 2023 Latin American competition authorities have led 99 investigations, including enforcement activity (both regarding cartel and unilateral conduct) and advocacy. In the case of Chile, the competition authority…
On 8 February 2023, the CAT upheld claims by both BMW and Volkswagen confirming that the CMA cannot compel responses to information requests from companies with no territorial connection to the UK. CMA Investigation In March 2022, the CMA opened an investigation into suspected anti-competitive conduct in relation to the recycling of end-of-life vehicles….
The Turkish Competition Authority (TCA) has rendered a number of decisions, particularly in recent years, on whether on-site inspections have been hindered or complicated. These include two recent decisions on D-Market Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret A.Ş. (“Hepsiburada“), one of the largest e-marketplaces in Turkey. In the first of these decisions, the TCA examined whether the…
New Cooperation Agreement On November 1, 2022, Switzerland and Germany signed an administrative agreement on cooperation between their competition authorities (“Agreement”). The Agreement is expected to enter into force in September 2023 at the earliest because the Swiss Federal Assembly still has to approve the Agreement. The ratifying German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate…
On August 5, 2022, the Italian Parliament adopted the 2021 Annual Law for Market and Competition (the “2021 Competition Law”), [1] the aim of which is to adapt the Italian system to EU competition rules and policies and to improve and liberalize markets affected by regulatory or economic barriers. The law reflects most of the…
On 16 September 2022 came into force the amendments to the Portuguese Competition Act introduced by Law no. 17/2022, of 17 August which also modifies the bylaws of the Competition Authority (PCA). This is the third amendment to the 2012 Competition Act, and the first amendment to the PCA bylaws. Law no. 17/2022 transposes the…
Background Starting from 2009, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) has conducted several sector inquiries and investigations on the oil market in Bulgaria – a sector giving rise to serious allegations for cartel activities and abuse of dominance. One of the last investigations was held in 2017. The proceedings were initiated as a…
