France

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition enforcement, European Court of Justice, France, National competition authorities (NCAs), Public procurement

, (Latham & Watkins LLP)/ /1 Comment

On 25 November 2020, the French Competition Authority (FCA) announced that it was amending its decision-making practice regarding responses to calls for tenders by subsidiaries of the same group. Up until now, the FCA considered that it was unlawful for subsidiaries of the same group to submit separate tenders in the same public procurement procedure…

France, Merger control

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On 23 July 2020, the French Competition Authority (FCA or Authority) published new merger control guidelines, which replace the previous guidelines dated 4 July 2013. In the new guidelines, the Authority clarifies and completes (i) the procedural rules and (ii) the rules relating to the substantive examination of a merger.   Key points The new…

Algorithms, Collusion, France, Germany

(Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato)/ /Leave a comment

I. Introduction Algorithms may raise competition concerns especially when assessing collusive practices. Very often, the term “algorithm” is used improperly. When we imagine the cartels of the future, we are not talking, in fact, about a simple “algorithm”, which in itself is a neutral instrument. Rather, we refer to much more specific techniques for implementing…

France, Online sales ban, Selective distribution

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With Halloween just past, the French Competition Authority (FCA) is revisiting chainsaw massacre: on October 24, 2018, it adopted a decision imposing a 7 million euros fine on chainsaw manufacturer Stihl for imposing a de facto ban on online sales to its distributors (see press release here). Even more importantly, contrasting with previous French cases, the…

France, Sector inquiries

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The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) has published the results of its sector-specific inquiry into display online advertising. The 125-page opinion of March 6, 2018, (“Opinion“) identifies potential competition concerns and is likely to trigger individual antitrust investigations by the FCA (and potentially other national competition authorities) in the online advertising sector. Background In May 2016,…

France, Mergers

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 November 2016, the French Competition Authority (FCA) fined French-based Altice group and its telecommunications subsidiary SFR 80 million euros for the coordination of their commercial behaviour in the period between the acceptance of Altice’s purchase offer of SFR and the FCA’s merger clearance decision. This is the highest fine ever imposed by a…

Antitrust, Cartels, European Union, France

(Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

It is commonly accepted that, pursuant to the principle of intragroup immunity, Article 101 TFEU cannot catch agreements or concerted practices between entities that belong to the same undertaking. Article 101 TFEU requires coordination between at least two undertakings: everything that happens within a single undertaking simply cannot be covered by Article 101 TFEU. Yet,…

France

(Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

It is not uncommon for the law to progress as a consequence of significant discrepancies and disagreements arising between courts and enforcers. This is exactly what may currently be happening to the French rules governing the calculation of fines. One can expect that, once the dust has settled, the calculation methodology applied by the French…

Antitrust, France

(Jones Day)/ /1 Comment

A case involving Google confirms that the French Competition Authority is keen on using a combination of interim measures and commitment proceedings in order help it quickly resolve maters which it perceives as competition issues. This may remain a specific feature of the French system however: having regard to the very demanding standard of proof…