Competition policy, Czech Republic, Legislation, Merger control, Merger notification, National competition authorities (NCAs)

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Introduction In the past two years, the Czech Competition Authority (CCA) added several new tools to its arsenal for competition enforcement. This year the CCA and the Government of the Czech Republic proposed another significant set of updates to the Czech Act No. 143/2001 Coll., on the Protection of Competition (the Act). Arguably, the most…

Cartels, Collective Redress, Damages, Germany, Principle of Effectiveness, Regulation

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

Introduction Last week, Advocate General Maciej Szpunar delivered his Opinion in case C-253/23, a preliminary reference that stems from a form of collective private enforcement of competition law in Germany called the ‘assignment model’. This type of litigation is based on the fiduciary assignment of claims from a high number of persons or companies who…

Labour market, No-poach-agreement, Poland, Price fixing

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Introduction Competition law is a fundamental component of market regulation designed to prevent anti-competitive practices that can harm both consumers and the overall market structure. Traditionally, these laws have focused on agreements between competitors in specific industries. However, recent developments have extended the reach of competition law into labour markets, where violations can have equally…

Amazon, Digital Markets Act, Germany

(Heinz & Zagrosek Partner mbB, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

On April 24, 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) rejected Amazon’s appeal against the decision of the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) of July 2022, designating Amazon as a gatekeeper under national competition law, Section 19a ARC.  The ruling clarifies important aspects of this provision designed to capture large digital companies (see translation of…

AI, Competition policy, Digital economy, Digital markets, Digital Markets Act, European Commission, European Union, Foreign Subsidy Regulation, Innovation, Market investigations, Merger regulation, New Competition Tool, Objectives of Competition Law

(Centrum für Europäische Politik)/ /Leave a comment

As the European Commission prepares for a new mandate under President Ursula von der Leyen later this year, former ECB President Mario Draghi – famous for his “whatever it takes” approach to saving the Euro – has now turned his focus to the future of EU competitiveness in the digital age. His long-awaited report, commissioned…

Competition policy, Price gouging, United States of America

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In her first economic policy speech as Presidential Candidate, Kamala Harris pledged to introduce a federal ban on price gouging in the food sector. Claiming that prices failed to return to pre-pandemic levels despite improvements to supply chains following prior breakdowns and that “[m]any of the big food companies are seeing their highest profits in…

Competition law, Competition policy, Conference, Digital competition

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

From 4th to 6th September 2024, 96 young competition law and economics scholars, from PhD students to post-docs and assistant professors, gathered in Vienna to discuss a wide array of topical issues of competition law. In its second edition, the young competition law scholars conference managed to attract attention not only from the DACH-region but…

World Competition Law and Economics Review

(Bird and Bird, Belgium)/ /Leave a comment

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Christian Bergqvist, Post Danmark: More than Just Another Serial Infringer The Danish Postal incumbent’s, Post Danmark, struggle to acclimatize to a market without special rights has yielded epic competition cases such as Post…

Abuse of dominance, Algorithms, Pricing, Pricing algorithms, United Kingdom

(One Essex Court)/ /1 Comment

The UK Competition and Market Authority has launched an investigation into Ticketmaster over its dynamic pricing of concert tickets. This follows widespread complaints about Ticketmaster increasing ticket prices in response to large demand for band Oasis’s reunion tour. Dynamic pricing is not a new practice. Airlines and ride-hailing companies like Uber are particularly well-known for…

Abuse of dominance, Competition policy, European Commission

(Brussels School of Competition)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Over the summer, the Commission published its long-awaited draft Article 102 Guidelines (‘draft GL’) for comments.[1] The stated intention of the Commission is to base the Guidelines on the case law of the Union Courts (§9). The stated goals of the Guidelines are to allow a vigorous and effective application of Article 102, but…