Abuse of dominance, Advocate General, European Court of Justice, Ex ante regulation, Judicial review, Merger control, Merger notification, Merger Thresholds, Mergers

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

The long-awaited European Court of Justice’s judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national merger control thresholds and were not referred to the European Commission under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation. However, uncertainties still remain….

Abuse of dominance, Anticompetitive agreements, China, Mergers

(Hogan Lovells, China)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 24 March 2023, China’s antitrust authority – the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”) – issued four regulations implementing the recently amended Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”): Regulation Prohibiting Monopoly Agreements (“Agreements Regulation”); Regulation Prohibiting Conduct Abusing a Dominant Market Position (“Abuse of Dominance Regulation”); Regulation on the Review of Concentrations between Business Operators (“Merger…

Abuse of dominance, Amazon, As Efficient Competitor, Commitments, Discrimination, European Commission

(University of Copenhagen)/ /Leave a comment

For unknown reasons, DG COMP persists in hiding the jewels when it comes to discrimination cases. This covers BdKEP/Deutsche Post AG from 2004, where DG COMP established (recital 93) how Article 102 TFEU covers three forms of discrimination, two exclusionary and one exploitive. As explained later, these have been referred to as horizontal-, vertical-, and…

Abuse of dominance, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Court of Justice, European Union, Ex ante regulation, Hungary, Information exchange, Netherlands

(University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

On 13 March 2023, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate of The Netherlands published the first draft of its implementing regulation (the ‘Draft Bill’) subject to public consultation until the 10th of April, to attribute its national competition authority (ACM) with the power to monitor compliance with the DMA in its national territory. The…

Bahrain, Competition enforcement, Kuwait, Merger control, Merger notification, Merger regulation, Merger Thresholds, Mergers, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE

(KARM Legal Consultants) and (Symbiosis International University)/ /3 Comments

Are big companies necessarily bad? If they are, how can we ensure that companies do not become too big and too bad? How can markets remain free, fair and competitive? Competition law has tried to answer these questions for centuries, with the most recent debates revolving around the alleged anti-competitive conduct of large tech companies….

Competition Law 2022, Ukraine

(State University of Trade and Economics and Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition) and (State University of Trade and Economics)/ /Leave a comment

Competition Policy in Wartime Over a year, Ukraine courageously resists a full-scale attack by Russian troops and fights for its freedom, independence, and territorial integrity. This reality affects all the processes in the country. Competition policy is no exception (see previous posts on the Kluwer Competition Law Blog on this topic here). This overview describes…

Abuse of dominance, Czech Republic, Supply chain

(Schoenherr)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Long before the Directive (EU) 2019/633 on unfair trading practices in business-to-business relationships in the agricultural and food supply chain (the “Directive”), the Czech Republic had passed an Act on significant market power in the sale of agricultural and food products and its abuse (the “Act”). At the beginning of its effectiveness in 2010,…

European Commission, European Union, Foreign subsidies, Foreign Subsidy Regulation

(Gleiss Lutz)/ /Leave a comment

In Goethe’s famous poem “Der Zauberlehrling”, a sorcerer’s apprentice enchants a broom to do the work for him, using magic in which he is not yet fully trained. The floor is soon flooded with water, and the apprentice realizes that he cannot stop the broom because he does not know how. His famous words “The…

Austria, Competition Law 2022

(MMRA)/ /Leave a comment

Cartels Legal Framework and Procedure Guidance on the Reduction of Fines In January 2022, the Austrian Federal Competition Authority published guidance on the reduction of fines under the Austrian leniency programme, which applies to undertakings that do not qualify for full immunity. The substantive conditions for immunity and leniency in Austria and the applicable fine…

Apps, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition law, Costa Rica, Digital, Digital competition, Digital economy, Ecuador, Latin America, Mexico, Paraguay, Regulation

(Universidad del Rosario) and (Universidad Diego Portales)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Ride-hailing apps are present practically in every country from Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). In places like Colombia and Brazil, they entered the market as early as 2013 – 2014 respectively, according to research authored by Resende and Lima. Apps like Uber, Cabify and Didi have emerged and generated pressure on the traditional…