National competition authorities (NCAs), Netherlands, Resale price maintenance, Restriction by object

, (Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 13 November 2023, the District Court of Rotterdam (“Court”) handed down its judgment in the Samsung case. This ruling gives insights on whether a supplier, by actively pursuing its resale price recommendations can be held to restrict competition by object, even if its conduct does not involve any sanctions (or threat thereof) or…

European Commission, European Court of Justice, General Court of the European Union, Gun jumping, Merger control, Merger notification, Merger regulation, Merger Thresholds, Mergers

, , (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

On 9 November 2023, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) confirmed that the European Commission (EC) was right to impose two separate fines on Altice for breaching standstill rules and failing to notify its acquisition of PT Portugal, but lowered the fine for failure to notify by €3.1 million. The European Union (EU) merger control…

Ex ante regulation, Ex ante regulatory assessment, Ex post regulatory assessment, India, Intellectual property (IP), National competition authorities (NCAs), Patent settlements

, , (Fox & Mandal)/ /Leave a comment

The Honorable Delhi High Court has recently in the case of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (PUBL) v. Competition Commission of India held that when a patent is issued in India, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) cannot inquire into the actions of a patentee in the exercise of its power under the Competition Act, 2002. The…

Competition and Markets Authority, Enforcement, Priority setting, United Kingdom

(University of Leeds) and (University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

On 30 October 2023, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its new prioritisation principles. These principles aim to guide the CMA’s choice of work when enforcing the competition rules, particularly as the CMA does not have the resources to act in all instances. Seemingly little has changed in the text since the previous…

Abuse of dominance, Advantage, Bulgaria, Burden of Proof, Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition law, Competition policy, Complaint, Discrimination, Dominance, General Court of the European Union, Potential competition

(KU Leuven)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On Wednesday 25 October 2023, the General Court of the European Union ruled in Case T-136/19 on the application of the prohibition of abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU. The judgment concerns the annulment of a Commission decision condemning Bulgarian gas holding company BEH and subsidiaries for an unauthorised refusal of access. The…

Dawn raids, Enforcement, Jurisdiction, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court

, (Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

Dawn raids are back with a vengeance. In October 2021, when COVID-19 restrictions were being lifted, EVP M. Vestager stressed that after a two-year hiatus mandated by the pandemic, dawn raids were back (see here for the speech). After carrying out dawn raids in the fashion and the wood pulp industries, she warned that this…

Austria, Enforcement, Fines, Settlement

, (E+H Attorneys-at-Law)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 6 November 2023, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority (“FCA“) published its updated standpoint on settlements. The original standpoint dates back to 2014. Shortly after the first settlement at the European level had taken place in 2010, Austria had its first settlement in the “brewery case” in 2012. This was quickly followed by a…

Anticompetitive agreements, Confidentiality, Damages, Portugal, Private actions, Private enforcement

(Sousa Ferro & Asociados)/ /1 Comment

Introduction On February 21, 2020, the European Commission (EC), in the context of Case AT.40528 – Holiday Pricing, ordered Meliá Hotels International, S.A. to pay a fine in the total amount of EUR 6 678 000. The European Commission found that Meliá Hotels International, S.A. participated in a single and continuous infringement of Article 101…

Advocate General, Anticompetitive agreements, Information exchange, Restriction by object

(White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

In October 2023, Advocate General Rantos delivered his opinion in the context of a preliminary ruling request from Portuguese courts on whether an exchange of information between competitors can constitute a restriction of competition by “object” in breach of Article 101(1) of the TFEU. In practice, such classification relieves a competition authority from the obligation…

Collective Redress, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, Private enforcement

(University of Vienna, Austria) and (University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The Digital Markets Act has been analysed from a myriad of prisms, both from the public and private enforcement perspectives. However, less attention has been dedicated to analysing the actual content of private enforcement via collective actions, as set out explicitly in Articles 42 and 52 of the DMA. Article 42 DMA establishes that “Directive…