EU News Analysis

By Christian Ritz1 & Dr. Hubertus Weber (Hogan Lovells)2   On January 19, 2021, the 10th amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen, GWB), came into force. The amendment is mostly driven by the German legislator’s intent to pioneer in the digitization of competition law and the need to transfer […]

Click here for a PDF version of the article Highlights from the OECD Roundtable on the Role of Competition Policy in Promoting Economic Recovery – by Caroline P. Boisvert (Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider) Highlights from the OECD Forum on Competition, Day One – By Melanie Kiser (Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider)  Highlights from the OECD’s November […]

By Dr. Raphael Reims (Willkie Farr & Gallagher)1 (I) Tenth Amendment to the Act Against Restraints on Competition On October 19, 2020, the German Federal Cabinet submitted the revised draft for the tenth amendment to the Act Against Restraints on Competition (“ARC”) to the German Federal Parliament.2 The revised draft covers various changes in the […]

London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) took a key step toward gaining regulatory approval for its US$15 billion acquisition of financial-data company Refinitiv Holdings by entering into exclusive talks for the sale of its Italian exchange operator, reported The Wall Street Journal.  LSE announced Friday, September 18, it is in discussions to sell Borsa Italiana Group […]

By Thomas Weck & Philipp Reinhold (Monopolies Commission)1   On June 17, 2020, the EU Commission published a new White Paper on the regulation of foreign subsidies, which is intended to establish a level playing field in the internal market vis-à-vis subsidies from third countries such as China.2 The instrument will apply towards all undertakings […]

By Timothy Cowen (Preiskel & Co LLP)1   Summary The CMA has reported record numbers of complaints about business behavior since the pandemic and associated lockdown measures hit the UK.2 Unjustifiable price increases have included price rises for essential goods, with the largest price increases reported relating to hand sanitizer, with a median price now approaching […]

By Dr. Tilman Kuhn, & Prof. Dr. Stefan Thomas (White & Case LLP & Eberhard Karls University)1   Introduction In its first ever judgment dealing specifically with the interpretation of the “significant impediment to effective competition” (“SIEC”) test of Article 2(3) of the EU merger regulation2 (“EUMR”) concerning unilateral effects below the level of dominance, […]

By Csongor István Nagy (University of Szeged)1   I. Background Hungarian banks fixed the interchange fee to be used in the two major payment card systems (MasterCard and Visa) on a multilateral basis. This fee is used in inter-bank clearing and is paid by the acquiring bank (which operates the bankcard terminal installed at the […]

Giorgio Monti (Tilburg Law and Economics Center)1   1. Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the Commission respond readily to state aid measures: protocols established in 2008 were replicated. However, during the financial crisis and the ensuing recession the Commission was not at all sympathetic to private restraints to competition for troubled firms. The then-Commissioner […]

Maria José Schmidt-Kessen (Copenhagen Business School)1   Introduction While we are still awaiting the judgments in the pending appeals on pay-for-delay settlements in Lundbeck2 and Servier,3 the Court of Justice of the European Union was faster in answering the preliminary reference by the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) in Case C-307/18 Paroxetine. The judgment came […]

Jan Blockx (University of Antwerp)1 Introduction Twelve years ago, on January 15, 2008, the European Commission used its power to conduct unannounced inspections in a sector inquiry for the first time. The pharmaceutical sector inquiry it launched that day was a response to perceived delays in the entry of generics into pharmaceutical markets. The main […]

By Miguel Sousa Ferro1 & Guilherme Oliveira e Costa2   Introduction 2019 was coming to its end when the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued its judgment in Otis3 – another judgment in the escalators and lifts cartel saga, making it the third landmark case on private enforcement during that year, alongside […]