After the UK Brexit referendum of 23 June the implications on the political, economic and legal relations between the UK and the EU have been discussed from many angles. But what about one of the main pillars for the successful integration of the European Single Market: State aid law? Does the end of EU membership…
“Improper and plainly undermines legal certainty and the rule of law.” This is how four U.S. senators – including the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee – recently described the European Commission’s State aid investigation into tax rulings by Member States, including into Ireland’s tax treatment of Apple. Of course the…
Writing from the floor of my office, you will all now be aware that the British public voted in favour of a so-called “Brexit”, or exit from the European Union (“EU“). Before I turn the lights off, I thought I would share the following, which may be of interest to our readers, on the implications…
The question of how to treat bans on sales via third-party internet platforms in selective distribution systems and the impact of the Court of Justice’s Pierre Fabre ruling (see judgment of October 13, 2011, case C-439/09) have been on the agenda in Germany for some time. Recently, the Frankfurt Court of Appeals has submitted a…
The European Commission recently published its decision clearing the joint acquisition by Electricité de France S.A. (EDF) and China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) over a group of companies active in the nuclear energy sector. The decision provides a warning that transactions involving a Chinese State-owned enterprise (SOE) may trigger a mandatory notification to the…
A “leave” vote in the UK referendum on 23 June 2016 would have a number of repercussions. Competition law is not one of these areas where these repercussions are going to be dramatic, but still a few things both at the UK and at the whole of the (remaining) EU would be different. No major…
On 21 April 2016, the Advocate General Nils Wahl issued his Opinion in Case C-221/15 – a proceeding initiated by a request for preliminary ruling from the Brussels Court of Appeal. The case concerns the compliance of the prohibition upon retailers to sell tobacco products below the price indicated on the tax stamps by manufacturers…
The insurance block exemption regulation (IBER) protects statistical cooperation and certain joint insurance arrangements (inter alia line slips, pools, consortia, joint binding authorities). The EU report examining the IBER’s renewal concludes it is either superfluous or superseded. But the report leaves many practitioners scratching their heads. The report miss-describes industry fundamentals and omits essential practices benefitting…
In her recent opinion, Advocate General J. Kokott went over one of the most important elements for companies facing cartel sanction: the fines calculation method. If this specific point is often challenged by the parties, the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (ECJ) upcoming judgement Pilkington Group Ltd and Others v European Commission may…
Summary On 10 March 2016, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down judgments[1]Case C‑247/14 P – HeidelbergCement AG v European Commission; Case C‑248/14 P – Schwenk Zement KG v European Commission; Case C‑267/14 P – Buzzi Unicem SpA v European … Continue reading that provide useful clarification regarding limits on information requests issued by the…
