Bid rigging has for a long time been a merely theoretical example of criminal liability in Czech Antitrust law without any actual cases decided. Until 2010 with the introduction of criminal liability for hard-core horizontal cartels, this was one of the very few cases of cartels where one could actually think of criminal liability of…
Over the last two months, the Commission has been market testing commitments that Google has offered to resolve the Commission’s pending investigation. Many have made thoughtful comments (see for example here, here, and here). But there has also been criticism from the corner of some of Google’s competitors. I represent Google in the Commission’s proceedings…
On 5 June 2013, the Spanish Congress approved the creation of a new Spanish competition authority: the National Commission on Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, “NCMC“). The NCMC will merge the current competition authority (the NCC) and the six regulators governing energy, telecoms, audio-visual, postal, rail and airport services….
Introduction Asking for directions is passé. Nowadays, a digital map will tell you where you are going making it quite clear that you are edging ever closer to your final destination, whatever that may be. Gone is that sense of adventure and romance that went with the discovery of new and uncharted territory. Then again,…
Together with the publication of its proposed legislation to facilitate damage claims, the Commission has published a Practical Guide to the quantification of harm arising from infringements of the competition rules. The Practical Guide was published in draft form in 2011 (as draft Guidance Paper). Subject to a small number of additions, the changes relative…
The pantomime season has come early this year with the recent headline row over how oil prices are set. It is the show that has something for everyone. Furious motorists. Politicians looking for cheap and cheerful publicity. And the kind of villain that the public love to hiss and boo – an extremely wealthy industry….
Like the European Commission, I am confident that the European Merger Simplification Project will bring benefits for clients. As many commentators have affirmed, I do not doubt that the increase of the currently applicable market share thresholds for the identification of horizontally and vertically “affected markets” by 5 per cent to 20% and 30% respectively…
On 31 January 2013, the European Commission (DG Internal Market) published a Green Paper on unfair trading practices in the business-to-business food and non-food supply chain in Europe. One of the issues that the Green Paper deals with is the use by some suppliers of territorial supply constraints – described as impeding retailers’ ability to…
Here is an interesting note by my colleague John Bodrug (jbodrug@dwpv.com) on the collective bargaining exemption under Canada’s Competition Act. ************************************************ A current investigation by the Canadian Competition Bureau into alleged illegal agreements among several residential low rise concrete forming contractors in Toronto, Ontario includes allegations that some provisions in a collective agreement between the…
On April 26, 2013, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (“SAIC“) – one of China’s three antitrust law enforcement bodies – noted on its website that it had held a meeting with certain industry participants to obtain feedback on the latest draft Regulation on the Prohibition of Conduct Eliminating or Restricting Competition through Abuses of Intellectual…
