Germany

Competition Law 2021, Damages, Digital economy, Dominance, Enforcement, Germany, Horizontal, Judicial review, Litigation, Merger control, Online platforms, Price fixing, Rebates, Uncategorized

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

The following is a selection of some of the most important developments in German competition law and policy in 2021.  It has been a busy year for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”), inter alia because the new rules for digital companies took effect.  The following covers cases under these new rules, abuse of dominance, merger…

Antitrust, Apple, Big data, Competition enforcement, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Dominance, Enforcement, Germany, Online platforms

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

In January 2021, the latest reform of the German competition law (“ARC”) entered into force, including significant new rules regarding digital platform markets.  These include new powers for the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) under Section 19a ARC regarding digital gatekeepers with paramount cross-market significance for competition (for more details on the new norm, see here). A…

Damages, Economics, Evidence, Germany

(University of Vienna, Austria)/ /3 Comments

Last week, the German Federal Court of Justice published its April 2021 judgment in Trucks II. The German Court – always good for a surprise – was overall less favourable to the claimant. In particular, it emphasised the role of economic party opinions and regression analysis, especially in relation to the factual presumption of price…

Abuse of dominance, Advertising, Brand Gating, Data protection, Digital markets, European Commission, European Union, Facebook, France, Germany, Italy, Merger control, Online advertising, Online platforms, Spain, United Kingdom

(Spieker & Jaeger)/ /Leave a comment

When we earlier reported the German Facebook proceedings in terms of a legal opera [Link], this metaphor was, as I am afraid we have to admit, a little ill-fitting. As things now seem, we can observe a whole oeuvre, a whole cinematic universe, as a good number of spin-offs, sequels and side-stories centred around Facebook…

Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, France, Germany, Netherlands

(Loyens & Loeff, Netherlands) and (Loyens & Loeff)/ /Leave a comment

The draft Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been public for several months now (see a previous blog for our initial review when the draft came out) and opinions on its content continue to roll in. In brief, the DMA aims to lay down a set of rules for certain crucial platform services, so-called gatekeepers. EU…

Germany, Sport

(Universität Düsseldorf)/ /2 Comments

The 50+1 rule is a distinctive feature of German professional football. While majority shareholdings of investors are not uncommon in other professional football leagues, this rule makes them almost impossible in Germany. However, the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office: FCO) may now have put a stop to this long-standing practice. So, might we even witness investor-led…

Damages, Germany

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

The 2014 Cartel Damages Directive substantially facilitated cartel damages actions across the EU – the rising number of damages actions ever since its entering into force is a good indication of this development. Nevertheless, the quantification of harm remains the main challenge for claimants, who hold the burden of proof for the amount of harm….

Collective Redress, Damages, Germany, Private enforcement

(Spieker & Jaeger)/ /Leave a comment

The recent adoption of the Collective Consumer Redress Directive has reignited the discussion on collective private antitrust litigation – any ‘bundling of claims’ – once again. Even though collective redress on an EU level was first seriously discussed in the context of the Damages Directive, competition law does not fall into the scope of the…

Abuse of dominance, Data protection, Digital economy, European Court of Justice, Facebook, Germany

(Spieker & Jaeger)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 March 2021 the Higher Regional Court (‘Oberlandesgericht’) of Düsseldorf put yet another twist to the ‘Facebook Saga’. Although the formal written submission is not yet available, the Düsseldorf closed the hearing by staying the proceedings and announcing the referral to the CJEU of questions on data protection law.   Pricing Guns To be…

Anticompetitive agreements, Competition policy, European Commission, European Union, Germany, Greece, Green Deal, Merger control, Netherlands, OECD, State aid, Sustainability

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

A February 4 conference on competition policy and the Green Deal sponsored by the European Commission’s (the Commission’s) Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) highlighted the divergences of opinions among antitrust officials and other stakeholders on how competition policy should support sustainability objectives.  DG COMP aims to take a leading role on sustainability issues; its October-November…