European Union

Advocate General, Antitrust, European Court of Justice, European Union, Exemptions, Justifications, Restriction by object, Sport, Sports law

(Tilburg University)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction  Advocate General Emiliou delivered three interlocking Opinions concerning decisions of football governing bodies. Two of these cases were brought to challenge elements of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (Case C-209/23, RCC Sports and Case C-428/23, Rogon). The third concerns a decision of the Portuguese Competition Authority which had found that a no-poach agreement by…

European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Mergers, Private investment

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

As we approach the second anniversary of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), we take stock of the latest statistics and offer practical insights for private equity (PE) sponsors. Drawing on our extensive experience advising funds, we set out the key takeaways for PE investors navigating the FSR notification process.   PE sponsors are the…

Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Merger regulation

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

Executive Vice President (EVP) Ribera is on a “mission impossible” to develop a “new approach to competition policy” “support[ing] European companies to innovate, compete and lead world-wide and contribut[ing] to our wider objectives on competitiveness and sustainability, social fairness and security.”  EVP Ribera was particularly tasked with revising the European Commission’s (Commission’s) decades-old guidelines on…

Digital markets, European Union, Self-preferencing, Tying and Bundling, Whatsapp

(University College London) and (University of Cambridge)/ /Leave a comment

In March 2025, Meta rolled out its AI assistant in Europe, which is accessible through its WhatsApp Messenger and will soon be available on Instagram and Facebook Messenger, too. The feature grants users of its platforms access to a “reliable and intelligent assistant” via a “new blue circle icon” on the apps. Trans-Atlantic observers may…

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

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

Fast and furious: that was the premise that would make the DMA’s enforcement effective. Overcompensating for past grievances in the application of Article 102 TFEU in the digital markets in terms of speed and remedies justifies the DMA’s need for having regulatory teeth. And teeth it has. On 22 April 2025, the European Commission (EC)…

Competition policy, European Union, Sport, United States of America

(University of Oxford)/ /1 Comment

Introduction On March 27th, the NBA announced a plan to establish a new European basketball league. This league, which would be organised alongside FIBA, the global basketball regulator, would pose the latest challenge to the basketball landscape in Europe. It would also bring to the fore many of the legal and regulatory debates which have…

Commitments, European Commission, European Union, Foreign direct investment, Foreign investment, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Merger control, Merger notification, State aid, State owned enterprise (SOE), Telecommunications, United Arab Emirates

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

On 24 September 2024, the European Commission (EC) issued the long-awaited first decision (under phase II of the concentration tool) of the new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). It took another long wait of seven months, but a provisional public version of the commitment decision in the e&/PPF transaction (Case FS.100011) was published on 4 April…

Competition policy, European Union, Merger regulation, Merger Thresholds

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Fragmented Merger Control Landscape in Europe People like certainty.  That is especially true for M&A dealmaking.  Clear thresholds and parameters around regulatory approvals give dealmakers certainty as to what steps need to be taken to get deals over the line.  Yet, many EU jurisdictions now permit merger review by way of new call-in powers for…

Competition, European Commission, European Union, Remedies

, , (Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

The European Commission’s study on 20 years of EU antitrust remedies finds that while most remedies in antitrust cases were implemented, less than half achieved their intended effect. EU law currently subordinates structural remedies – such as divestments – to behavioral fixes. The study recommends scrapping this hierarchy, as behavioral remedies in particular often proved…

Antitrust, Competition, Enforcement, European Commission, European Union, Remedies

(NERA) and (University of Leeds)/ /Leave a comment

Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. From T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets   Establishing an antitrust infringement can already be an arduous task. Yet, effective antitrust enforcement increasingly requires designing remedies that go above and beyond just prohibiting the infringing behaviour. This…