Aitor Montesa Lloreda

Introduction On 4 November 2008, the Spanish Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court) handed down a landmark ruling in case 5837/2005, Ricardo v. Consejo General de la Abogacía. This case looks set to be a cornerstone of Spanish competition law for years to come. The judgment was delivered by the (...)

The decision-making body of the Spanish Competition Authority (Consejo Nacional de la Competencia , hereinafter the CNC) recently took a decision bringing to an end an investigation against the insurance company Axa for an alleged abuse of a dominant position within the Spanish car insurance (...)

The entry into force of the new Spanish leniency program has significantly stepped up cartel investigations undertaken by the Spanish Competition Authority (hereinafter “CNC”). Under the new regulatory framework enacted by the Spanish Competition Act in July 2007, the CNC has initiated 48 (...)

During the last two years, a number of important pharmaceutical manufacturers active in the Spanish market have introduced significant changes in their distribution systems. Under the new terms of these systems, the pharmaceutical companies select a reduced number of wholesalers to work with, (...)

Summer months have been particularly quiet in Spain in terms of private and public antitrust enforcement. With extra time to reflect, the brand new unified Spanish Competition Authority (Comisión Nacional de Competencia, hereinafter “CNC”) has decided to use its powers under Article 26 of the (...)

Spanish legal community has pleaded, at least since 2000, for the implementation of a comprehensive Spanish leniency program. The existence of such instrument has been regarded as a condition for a proper coordination between the Commission’s activity and that of the Spanish antitrust (...)

On September 3, 2007, a Spanish Commercial Court (Juzgado de lo Mercantil) based in Madrid rejected the claim filed by two service station operators against their supplier, Galp Energía España, S.A. (Galp). The two service station operators had held that some of the clauses within the agreements (...)

Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) n° 1/2003, of 16 December 2002, on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty (OJEC L 1, 4 January 2003, pp. 1-25) (“Article 9”) is one of the major new features of the new EC competition rules adopted in May (...)

On 4 May 1995, the Spanish Confederation of Service Station Businesses (“CEEES” in its Spanish initials) filed a complaint with the Servicio de Defensa de la Competencia (Lowest branch of the Spanish competition authority), against certain oil companies, including CEPSA. The CEEES complained that (...)

On March 15th, 2007 the Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia (TDC, highest branch of the Spanish antitrust authority) has concluded that defendants in national antitrust procedures are entitled to receive the essential content of all complaints lodged against them as soon as they are (...)

The time has come for Spanish main utilities to carry out a serious competition law assessment before putting a price to the power they offer within the framework of the Spanish electricity market. Spanish antitrust authorities have fined for the third time in a row a major utility on grounds (...)

The "e-Competitions" bulletin has reported on a number of occasions on the aftermath of the takeover bid announced on 5 September 2005 by Gas Natural, the most important Spanish gas provider, for Endesa, Spain’s biggest utility. The present case is just another step in this complex saga, but an (...)

Spanish dominant utilities and, more generally, incumbents have reasons to fear the aftermath of a relatively unnoticed decision of 14 December 2006 (Expt. 606/05) of the highest branch of the Spanish National Competition Authority (Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia, hereinafter “TDC”) in (...)

On 25 August 2006, the Spanish Government finally laid the long-awaited Bill for a new Spanish Competition Act (the “Bill” ) before the Lower House of Parliament for approval. The Bill is the cornerstone for the modernisation of the Spanish antitrust system. It is expected to enter into force by (...)

In a decision dated 22 May 2006 (“the Decision”), the Spanish Competition Authority (Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia, hereinafter “TDC”) has found that four large supermarket chains, namely, Alcampo, Carrefour, El Corte Inglés and Mercadona, had infringed Article 1 (1) of the Spanish (...)

On May 10, 2006, the film distributors Walt Disney/Buenavista, Sony/Columbia, Fox, United International Pictures and Warner Sogefilms (hereinafter “the majors”) were each fined €2.4 million by the Spanish Competition Tribunal (Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia, “TDC”). The TDC ruled that (...)

On 12 September 2005, GAS NATURAL (“GN”), the incumbent natural gas utility in Spain, notified the Spanish competition authorities of its takeover bid for the entire share of ENDESA, Spain’s main electricity utility . The merger would therefore bring together the nation’s largest natural gas (...)

A Spanish commercial judge has made an interesting contribution to the series of cases under EC antitrust law concerning the pricing practices of national copyright-management societies (hereinafter, “collecting societies”). The two applicants are digital TV platforms offering their clients (...)

Ever since the early seventies, the ECJ made it clear that European competition rules produce direct effects in relations between individuals and create subjective rights that have to be safeguarded by the national courts . This reasoning permitted the CFI to admit that the Commission is (...)

The Spanish antitrust system is too dependent on administrative enforcement and has not managed to create a true tradition of private antitrust litigation. One reason for this failure might be a cultural one. Spanish companies litigate less that, for instance, US companies. This might be due to (...)

It is rare that the eight members of the Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia (highest branch of the Spanish Competition Authority) express four different views on one single case. However, that happened in the 2001 CEPSA case (TDC’s decision of 30 may 2001 in case 493/00). One of those views (...)

In a Decision dated March 27th, 2000, the former Spanish second-tier Competition Authority (“Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia”, hereinafter, the “TDC”) ruled that a non-compete clause ancillary to a merger of unlimited duration did not infringe either Article 81 EC or Article 1 of the Spanish (...)

In a Decision dated November 15, 1999, the former Spanish second-tier Competition Authority (“Tribunal de Defensa de la Competencia”, hereinafter, the “TDC”) ruled that an agreement between two savings banks to coordinate the closing of their offices in several small villages was subject to an (...)