Kluwer Competition Law Blog

Abuse of dominance, Excessive pricing, United Kingdom

Authorities have to consider different types of evidence. The UK Court of Appeal broadly upholds the CAT’s judgment in Phenytoin and clarifies “excessive pricing” test

James Killick, Assimakis Komninos (White & Case)/April 2, 2020April 2, 2020 /Leave a comment

Summary On 10 March 2020 the Court of Appeal upheld the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) quashing of the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) decision that Pfizer and Flynn Pharma (Flynn) had abused their dominant positions in the market by pricing their epilepsy drug unfairly. Among other aspects, the Court of Appeal broadly upheld the CAT’s…

Competition law, Eurasian Economic Union

25th Anniversary of the Eurasian Economic Project: First Steps in Regulation of Cross-Border Competition

Ksenia Tarkhova, Anastasia Kayukova (ALRUD)/March 25, 2020March 24, 2020 /Leave a comment

Globalization and regional integration processes are trends that determine the development of the world’s economy at present and, as a result, substantially affect competition policy. To address new challenges in global markets, different states cooperate more closely with each other on competition law matters. Considered international cooperation is required for both practical (conduct of joint…

COVID-19, European Commission, European Union, State aid

EU State Aid and COVID-19

Paula Riedel, Shane Cranley (Kirkland & Ellis) and Thomas Wilson (Kirkland & Ellis, Belgium)/March 24, 2020April 9, 2020 /1 Comment

Overview Given the unprecedented challenge faced by European businesses in the wake of the public health measures being adopted, the EU and its Member States are taking extraordinary measures to minimise the economic fallout from COVID-19. Over the coming weeks, Member States will make available billions in financial aid an in a speech on 13…

World Competition Law and Economics Review

World Competition Law and Economics Review, volume 43, issue 1, 2020

Jose Rivas (Bird and Bird, Belgium)/March 21, 2020March 20, 2020 /Leave a comment

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Wouter P.J. Wils, Fundamental Procedural Rights and Effective Enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU in the European Competition Network This article deals with the fundamental procedural rights of companies that are targeted…

COVID-19, European Commission, Merger control

EU Merger Control and Implications from the Effects of the Coronavirus Crisis

Gavin Bushell (Baker McKenzie, Belgium)/March 20, 2020April 9, 2020 /Leave a comment

The global coronavirus pandemic impacts all aspects of life. The operation of the EU merger control regime is no exception. This situation will likely continue for some considerable period, potentially over several months. The inevitable resulting disruption will have negative effects on the M&A process for many companies. This post considers the effects of the…

COVID-19, European Commission, Failing firm defence, Merger control

COVID-19 and the ‘failing firm’ defence in merger proceedings

Tommi Lahtinen (European Commission) and Pieter Huizing (Allen & Overy)/March 20, 2020April 9, 2020 /Leave a comment

COVID-19, or more commonly known as the Coronavirus, has spread across the European Union (“EU”) like wildfire. Several Member States have closed their borders and ordered travel prohibitions, as well as the closing of schools, shops and restaurants. This new status quo will likely remain for several weeks if not months, possibly leading to severe…

Online advertising, Self-preferencing, Türkiye

Capacity to Sue of Consumers Whose Interests Are Affected Was Held Under the Microscope of the Administrative Courts in Turkey

Aybert Kurt, Alper Karafil (ACTECON)/March 5, 2020March 5, 2020 /Leave a comment

The issue of the “appropriate claimant” or the capacity to sue always comes into question at the stage of the judicial review of the decisions of the competition authorities. It is not as easy as it may seem from the first glance, and the case law of the Administrative courts in Turkey is a proof…

Brexit, European Union, United Kingdom

Squaring the circle: Level playing field provisions and the negotiation of a UK-EU free trade agreement

Totis Kotsonis (Pinsent Masons LLP)/March 3, 2020May 31, 2024 /Leave a comment

Whilst the EU-UK trade negotiations have barely commenced, one thing is already quite clear: the two sides are poles apart on the key issue of level playing field (LPF) provisions and the extent to which these should feature in a future EU-UK free trade agreement. The aim of these provisions, as originally set out in…

E-commerce, India

The Deep Discounting Conundrum

Akanshha Agrawal (National Law University Delhi)/February 28, 2020February 27, 2020 /Leave a comment

Background The changing market dynamics in the digital era have raised several concerns with competition regulators across the world, triggering a host of studies for better understanding the issue. In doing its part, the Competition Commission of India (“CCI”) released the ‘Market Study on E-commerce in India’ highlighting various regulatory issues in the e-commerce market….

Dominance, E-commerce, Türkiye

TCA’s Preliminary Inquiry into Google’s Shopping Unit Bidding Mechanism

Bahadir Balki, Burak Buğrahan Sezer (ACTECON)/February 27, 2020February 27, 2020 /Leave a comment

On 07.11.2019, the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) concluded its preliminary inquiry regarding Google’s[1] bidding system and decided not to initiate a full-fledged investigation. Said preliminary inquiry had been initiated upon a 28.02.2019 dated complaint made with confidentiality request claiming that: Google is in dominant position in search services, Google’s Shopping Unit and AdWords are crucial…