In 2022, the activities of the Polish Competition Authority (Urząd Ochrony Konkurencji i Konsumentów, hereinafter: UOKIK), and thus the developments in competition law in Poland, were affected by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the war in Ukraine and the following energy crisis. Moving ahead with the times, the UOKIK undertook various…
On 20 April 2023 the EU Commission adopted a new legislative package aimed at simplifying its procedures for reviewing transactions under EU merger control rules. Under the new rules the Commission seeks to assess more cases under the simplified procedure and reduce overall reporting requirements by 25%. The new…
Microsoft has said it will appeal a decision by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to block its proposed acquisition of video games developer and publisher Activision Blizzard. Activision is the company behind a number of popular game series, including ‘Call of Duty’. Microsoft agreed a deal to acquire Activision for $68.7 billion in…
The year 2022 in Italy witnessed a major update of national competition law and new powers for the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”). These developments are summarized below, together with a report of the ICA’s practice in antitrust and merger control, and an account of the activity of Italian courts, both at the national level and…
The Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Amendment) received Presidential assent on 11 April 2023, after it was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. The Amendment will take effect once the Central Government notifies its various provisions in the Gazette of India, possibly in a phased manner. Amendments that are to be clarified through regulations…
The UK Parliament is poised to publish its Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill (“the Bill”). The essential point is to place the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s (“CMA”)’s Digital Markets Unit (“DMU”) on a statutory footing and to set out the evidence standards applicable to it. The Bill will determine whether, how, and on…
Colombia’s competition law and policy are usually subject to incremental changes, but 2022 was a watershed in terms of institutional change, legal reforms and cases that captured the media’s attention. This blog post overviews three main developments in Colombia’s competition law and policy – covering institutional, legal amendments and enforcement issues – and is not…
On 22 February, the District Court of Amsterdam decided to refer preliminary questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in order to receive guidance enabling it to assess the legality of the EU antitrust rules of price parity clauses (PPs) used by Booking.com, an online travel agent platform (OTA).* More specifically,…
On 22 November 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to refer the supply of mobile browsers and mobile browser engines and the distribution of cloud gaming services through app stores on mobile devices for an in-depth ‘phase 2’ market investigation. The market investigation regime enables the CMA to investigate competition issues that…
The last few weeks have been momentous for Indian competition law – the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Amendment) received Presidential assent on 11 April 2023, after it was passed by both houses of the Indian Parliament. The lead-up to this moment was almost five years in the making. The Amendments are a product of extensive…
