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Blog o’ Blogs March

By  |  August 15, 2017

February gets the year into gear for Competition Authorities around the world as they come to terms an uncertain outlook on many fronts. Questions abound, from the effects (real and imagined) of BREXIT, to the early signs coming from a freshly installed (but not yet fully staffed) Trump administration and the prospect of Chinese antitrust authorities taking on a more prominent role in global affairs. All things to look forward to as Spring approaches in the Antitrust world.

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    The Directorate General for Competition (DGComp) published on 15 February 2017 its management plan for 2017.  It reveals the key objectives and areas of focus of DGComp for 2017.  We highlight below items of particular interest.
    Chantal Lavoie (LavoieLegal)
    Claimant’s Guide to Antitrust/Competition Litigation in the European Union
    Recent years have seen a significant increase in the number of private competition claims in the European Union. The Claimants’ Guide to Antitrust/Competition Litigation in the European Union provides an overview of the process for recovering compensation for breaches of competition law before the national courts of an EU Member State…
    Robert Bell (Competition Law/Bryan Cave)
    In an opinion issued on September 20, 2016, In re: Vitamin C Antitrust Litigation, the Second Circuit unanimously held that US courts must respect a foreign government’s—in this case, China’s—interpretation of its laws or regulations where the foreign government directly participates in United States (US) court proceedings and demonstrates a true conflict of laws between the two countries.
    (Norton Rose Fulbright)
    New Provisions in German Antitrust Law under Debate in German Parliament
    The German Ministry for Economic Affairs published a draft bill for the 9th amendment of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen – GWB). The draft bill addresses numerous topics which have been subject to intensive discussions in German competition policy…
    Robert Bell (Competition Law/Bryan Cave)
    Some of the most pernicious and welfare-inimical anticompetitive activity stems from the efforts of firms to use governmental regulation to raise rivals’ costs or totally exclude them from the market…
    Alden Abbott (Truth on the Market)
    Since we last reported on the state and federal government’s generic drug pricing investigations and litigations, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has obtained its first guilty pleas…
    Stephanie Gyetvan & Johnathan H. Hatch (Antitrust Update)
    The German government intends to exempt cartels in the press sector: bad news for competition law, bad news for free speech
    Rupprecht Podszun, Professor of Competition Law at the University of Dusseldorf, has recently published two posts outlining the reforms to the German competition law system proposed by the government…
    Pablo Ibanez Colomo (Chilling Competition)
    How to Regulate: Externalities
    As I mentioned in my first post, How to Regulate examines the market failures (and other private ordering defects) that have traditionally been invoked as grounds for government regulation.  For each such defect, the book details the adverse “symptoms” produced, the underlying “disease”…
    Thom Lambert (Truth on the Market)
    Mexican Court Recognises Attorney-Client Privilege in the Field of Competition Law
    In December 2016, a Mexican court Specialised in Competition (the First Collegiate Tribunal) recognised, for the first time in this field of law, the existence of the legal privilege as a protection of attorney-client communications.
    Marta Loubet (Comp Law Blog)
    Brexit: Merger Review Implications and Recommendations
    The United Kingdom’s June 23, 2016 vote to leave the European Union, known as Brexit, triggered a political and economic earthquake.
    (Norton Rose Fulbright)
    A tale of two mergers: Following their losses in DOJ merger challenges, Anthem fights on and Aetna gives up
    In the past month, the DOJ and several state governments scored two trial wins in their challenges to mergers among some of the country’s largest health insurers.
    David Kleban & Johnathan H. Hatch (Antitrust Update)
    Case C-230/16, Coty: a straightforward issue with major implications
    Among pending cases before the Court, Coty certainly stands out. Its practical implications are difficult to overestimate. The judgment will have important consequences for online commerce and the luxury industry, on the one hand, and major Internet players, on the other.
    Pablo Ibanez Colomo (Chilling Competition)