On 18 May and 22 June 2022, the EU General Court upheld two European Commission prohibition decisions. Both judgments endorsed the European Commission’s assessment of the mergers at issue, recognising a broad margin of discretion in the European Commission’s evaluation of the concentrations’ effects and the remedies. Key takeaways The EU General Court (“GC”)…
Sustainability as a policy priority It is no news that sustainability is an important topic of competition policy across the EU. There is clear consensus that competition law enforcement should be careful not to hinder cooperation between companies, even competitors, that facilitates the realisation of or progress towards reaching sustainability goals of climate policy (or…
On September 6, 2022, the European Commission (Commission) announced that it had prohibited the acquisition by Illumina Inc., a U.S company supplying sequencing- and array-based solutions for genetic and genomic analysis, of Grail LLC, another U.S. company that develops blood tests for the early detection of cancers, under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). Grail has…
Regulation 2019/452 (as amended, the FDI Regulation) inserted the European Commission (the Commission) into a hitherto jealously guarded area of EU Member State authority – screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) for threats to security and public order. The FDI Regulation sets out minimum requirements for Member States’ FDI screening regimes and a mechanism for…
On 18 January 2022, Microsoft announced its future acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which will be the largest tech merger in the history of the United States. The press release voiced concern on a range of competition authorities around the World. Microsoft is one of the three contenders in the market of console-making and by acquiring…
Yesterday, on 29 August 2022, clearance for the FAW/Refire joint venture transaction was announced on one of the websites of the Chinese antitrust authority – i.e., the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”). That transaction marks the first case where Chinese merger review was handled by a local SAMR office. The foundations to this delegation…
With the much-debated reforms to Act 19/2003, of 4 July, on capital movements (“Act 19/2003”), the Spanish foreign direct investment (“FDI”) regime has been expanded over the past few years. However, FDI screening in relation to defense investments predates Act 19/2003 (and the recent FDI hype more broadly), and was regulated in Royal Decree 664/1999…
Case law has given rise to the concept of a Single and Continuous Infringement, providing for consolidating all actions and undertakings supporting an infringement. Including those with a marginal affiliation or effect, providing a doctrine of immense practical relevance. However, while the doctrine allows for solving practical issues, it does not dispense with the obligation…
In July, we outlined the new Government’s Competition and Consumer Law policy initiatives (click here). The Government has now moved forward with one of these initiatives, publishing for consultation a draft bill and related explanatory materials (click here), seeking very substantial increases to the maximum penalties for breaches of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010…
In recent years, there has been much talk of ‘due process’ and of ensuring a fair and impartial case handling by competition authorities. The EU Courts consistently stress the importance of respecting the parties’ defence rights but often end up siding with the European Commission. By finding no violation of the parties’ defence rights they…
