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…
The Competition (Amendment) Bill (‘Bill’) was first published for public consultation in February 2020 and it is only on 5 August 2022 that it has finally been tabled before the Indian Parliament. The Bill is a concerted effort to harmonize competition law with the evolving realities of businesses today. The Bill proposes to amend both…
The collective private antitrust cases in the so-called timber cartel keep many German courts busy. At the beginning of the year, the Stuttgart Regional Court rejected any claims for cartel damages in a rather blunt manner [Link]. Now, the Regional Court of Dortmund has heard the case. As Dortmund is located in Germany’s Westfalia region,…
Background The recent proliferation of foreign direct investment regimes (“FDI”) in Europe baffles practitioners and deal makers alike. Why is my acquisition of, say, a developer of grapes in Spain potentially subject to CFIUS-like rules? Can my carefully crafted leveraged buyout of a niche Polish producer of NFTs derail out of national security concerns because…
At the end of July, the Supreme Court of Israel issued a judgment giving local consumers the right to submit class-action suits against dominant companies in case of exorbitantly high prices. Background The dominant company at stake, Central Bottling, deals with the production, marketing and distribution of brands of the global Coca-Cola Company. This…
Following its exit from the European Union, the UK is no longer bound by the EU’s rules governing public subsidies. At the end of April 2022, the UK Parliament passed the Subsidy Control Act 2022, which sets out a new framework for granting and controlling public subsidies. The Act is expected to enter into full…
The Kluwer Competition Law Blog will remain open but will slow down a bit in the coming weeks. We hope you are having a wonderful summer! If you don’t want to miss out on reading about competition law developments in the meantime, we recommend catching up on our series on the main 2021 developments in…
The final text of the DMA, after the Council’s final approval last 18th July, opened up, yet again, speculation on its enforcement. Although the Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton promptly confirmed that DG Connect would be the Directorate to apply and oversee the compliance of the DMA’s rules and obligations, several questions still…
