Competition and Markets Authority, Competition enforcement, Digital competition, Merger control, United Kingdom

, (Pinsent Masons LLP)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Data protection, Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, Ex ante regulation, Online advertising, Online advertising restrictions, Online platforms, Platforms, Privacy, Regulation

(University Villanueva, Spain)/ /Leave a comment

The DMA will start to apply on March 2024. Starting on the 2nd of May, the gatekeepers have a maximum of two months to notify their gatekeeper status to the European Commission (EC). The European Commission (EC) has acquired the compromise to make the process of the DMA’s future implementation, monitoring and oversight of compliance as…

Competition Law 2022, Italy

, (European Commission)/ /1 Comment

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…

Competition Commission of India, Competition enforcement, Competition policy, India

, (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Competition enforcement, Damages, European Court of Justice, National competition authorities (NCAs), National court, Private enforcement, References for a preliminary ruling

(University of Göttingen, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

In a preliminary reference procedure stemming from a private cartel damages action in Spain, the European Court of Justice (‘ECJ’ or ‘the Court’) had to rule on the binding effects of national competition authorities’ (‘NCAs’) decisions for private enforcement as evidence before national courts. Besides, another question concerned the effects of the automatic nullity of…

Abuse of dominance, As Efficient Competitor, European Commission, European Court of Justice, Guidance, Guidelines, Margin squeeze, Restriction by effect

(Norton Rose Fulbright, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

The European Commission (the Commission) has launched a project to codify EU law on the application of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to exclusionary abuses of dominant positions, such as exclusive dealing, tying and bundling, predatory pricing, refusals to supply and margin squeezes. The Commission published a…

Digital competition, Digital economy, Digital markets, Regulation, United Kingdom

(Northeastern University)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Dawn raids, European Court of Human Rights, European Court of Justice

(Advokatfirman Delphi)/ /Leave a comment

On 9 March 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its rulings in Les Mousquetaires and Casino, both cases dealing with the procedural safeguards that need to surround a dawn raid. Less than a month later, the European Court of Human Rights gave its view on the matter in UAB Kesko Senukai…

Colombia, Competition Law 2022

(Universidad del Rosario)/ /1 Comment

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…

Competition, Competition enforcement, Competition policy, Gender equality

(Freie Universität Berlin)/ /Leave a comment

In 2018, the OECD and the Canadian Competition Bureau launched the Gender Inclusive Competition Policy project, which aimed to explore the interdependence between the gender perspective and competition policy. Seven research proposals were selected based on their interesting initial findings, which provided specific examples of how competition policy might benefit from adopting a gender perspective….