Back in April 2017, The Times ran a story detailing how a drug giant had a “secret plan” to destroy a cancer medicine unless large price rises were agreed to by national purchasing authorities. A month later, the European Commission opened an investigation into Aspen. Almost four years later in February 2021, it accepted commitments…
On 6 May 2021, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (“ACM”) published its updated market study (“FttH market study”) into the roll-out in the Netherlands of fibre-optic broadband networks for households (Fiber-to-the-Home). In the annex to this report, the ACM provides guidelines on how the roll-out of fibre-optic networks could be coordinated within the…
On 6 May 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a staff working document (“SWD”) on its evaluation of the horizontal block exemption regulations on research & development and specialisation agreements (“H-BERs”) and the horizontal guidelines. The SWD is accompanied by an evaluation study, commissioned to provide qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the Commission’s evaluation. The findings show…
On May 5, 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted a proposal for a regulation (the Anti-Subsidy Regulation) to combat distortions of competition in the European Union (EU) caused by subsidies granted by non-EU Member States to companies doing business in the EU. The Anti-Subsidy Regulation is an important part of the von der Leyen…
While the skyrocketed technological advancements add immense comfort to human lives, they bring certain tied-up gifts for humans to ponder upon. One such technology which recently had an enormous outburst in the economic structures is that of blockchains. Blockchain is one of the most revolutionary consequences of the advancement of digital commerce which is arguably…
It has been another exciting year in Spanish Merger Control. To the overarching importance of the pandemic, we have to add political appointments, more Phase II investigations and resort to innovative packages of remedies. The Spanish Enforcer in Times of Pandemic In June 2020, the council of the Comisión Nacional de Mercados y de…
In my second post on matters related to the DMA Proposal (see for another post here), I would like to draw the readers’ attention to the role of the Court of Justice. I am not going to touch upon potential challenges of the DMA or questions of judicial review of acts taken by the Commission…
The 2014 Cartel Damages Directive substantially facilitated cartel damages actions across the EU – the rising number of damages actions ever since its entering into force is a good indication of this development. Nevertheless, the quantification of harm remains the main challenge for claimants, who hold the burden of proof for the amount of harm….
Funding for Canada’s Competition Bureau is set to increase by more than one third, the government announced in the federal budget for 2021-2022. The budget proposes to increase the Bureau’s budget by $96 million over five years, beginning this year, and thereafter, by $27.5 million annually. This increase is intended to pay for increased capacity and…
The Bulgarian parliament recently adopted a number of significant amendments to the Bulgarian Protection of Competition Act (PCA). The amendments transpose into law Directive (EU) 2019/1 to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market (the ECN+ Directive) and Directive…
