The Competition Chapter of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement sets the obligation for the Parties to maintain “comprehensive competition laws” and to have an “appropriately equipped, effective authority”. The Georgian Competition and Consumer Agency (“GCCA”) is a designated authority enforcing the Law of Georgia “On Competition” and related bylaws since its establishment in 2014. Georgian competition legislation…
Following an eventful year for the Icelandic Competition Authority (“ICA”) as well as Icelandic Courts regarding competition enforcement and merger control, the year of 2023 started out quietly. However, the latter part of the year provided for some major decisions by both the ICA and the Competition Appeals Committee with competition enforcement matters being kept…
2023 was marked by the most significant overhaul of Canadian competition law and policy in over a decade. The changes represent a significant victory for Canada’s Competition Bureau (Bureau), which has persuaded the Canadian government that enhancing enforcement of the Canadian Competition Act (Act) will help reduce inflation and address issues of affordability affecting the…
The year 2023 witnessed notable developments in Norwegian competition law, including the resolution of four cases in the Norwegian courts, the introduction of new legislative measures addressing issues within the grocery market, and various legislative proposals. While Norwegian competition law mainly mirrors the laws of the EU, this blog post offers an overview of the…
In September 2023, the European Commission (EC) issued its first designation decisions under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) (see the quick-fire reaction to those decisions here). It sets under the regulatory framework’s scope of application six different gatekeepers for twenty-two core platform services. At first glance, the designation decisions seemed straightforward enough: the European Commission…
On 21 December 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its highly anticipated judgment in the European Super League Company (ESL) case (C-333/21), alongside two other rulings dealing with the application of EU competition and free movement law to sports governance: International Skating Union (ISU) v Commission (C-141/21 P) and SA…
In 2021, an insightful interviewer asked Margrethe Vestager, EU Commissioner for competition law and policy, whether it was “time for a feminist antitrust policy”. The interviewer noted that “feminist policy has been used to denote not just gender equality, but an approach that is more inclusive of all underrepresented people”. In her answer, Vestager set…
General considerations Competition law enforcement in Argentina was not immune to the political context in 2023. This was reflected both in the reduction of decisions taken by the outgoing government because of the presidential elections that started in August and ended in late November, as well as in the drastic changes promised by the new…
This year marked a pivotal chapter in Romanian competition law. Over the past few years, the Romanian Competition Council (the ‘RCC’) has steadily emerged as a prominent player among the most active national competition authorities in the region. This ascent was solidified with new competencies and expanded responsibilities on unfair competition, foreign investment screening, investigation…
On 21 December 2023, the CJEU hit the newspaper headlines after handing down the judgments in Case C-333/21 European Super League Company, Case C-124/21 P International Skating Union v Commission, and Case C-680/21 Royal Antwerp Football Club (see an analysis of those cases from the antitrust perspective here). All three cases raised complex questions regarding the…
