Cartels and Restrictive Agreements Cases Construction Cartel In 2024, the Cartel Court imposed several significant fines on additional construction companies for their participation in a nationwide cartel in the Austrian construction sector. The cartel is believed to have had a duration of more than 15 years from at least July 2002 to October 2017 and…
In 2024, Slovak competition law continued to evolve, building on the developments in the previous year. The new leadership (the new chairman and vice-chairman were appointed in 2023), the Antimonopoly Office (AMO) has appeared to be remain committed to its stated goal of transforming itself to a more proactive and dynamic competition authority. The AMO’s…
2024 was characterised by the BCA’s dedication to boost transparency in its operations and investigations through the publication of its expert opinions to Belgian Courts and legislators. The BCA remained a steady player within the EU competition enforcement landscape in 2024 with an active enforcement track record and important sector inquiries. Even if slightly less…
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…
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last decade, you’ll know that private enforcement of antitrust is now big business, spurred on by the Damages Directive and industrious claimant-side law firms. Yet, one key player remains curiously passive in many Member States: the State itself. While public procurement markets are among the most vulnerable…
Brazil is on the verge of a significant regulatory shift, actively exploring the introduction of ex ante competition regulation designed to address potential harms from digital platforms before they become entrenched. Two initiatives have placed this debate at the forefront of the national policy agenda: Bill No. 2,768/2022 (the Bill) introduced to the Chamber of…
The year 2024 was eventful one for Czech competition law. Below, we provide an overview of the key developments that took place, starting with anticompetitive agreements – a traditional focus of the Czech Competition Authority (CCA). We also cover mergers and the abuse of dominance and then provide a summary of the key policy changes…
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 authorities around the world are closing loopholes and asserting jurisdiction over mergers that have potentially harmful effects but that fall below quantitative merger-control thresholds. Some of the activities that give them cause for concern include anti-competitive effects in local markets, roll-up strategies, killing potential competition, and the stifling of future innovation. Authorities are increasingly…
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…
