Belgian Competition Authority

The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority has submitted a motivated proposal for decision in a case concerning the imposition by Caudalie of a maximum discount level on its network of selective distributors* On 20 November 2020, the Investigation and (...)

Decision of the Competition College of the BCA in respect of the merger between the Delorge group and Coox* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has on 19 November 2020 authorized with remedies the acquisition by the Holding Groep Delorge BV (Groep Automotive (...)

Guidelines of the Belgian Competition Authority on the calculation of fines* As a result of the Royal Decree of 31 July 2020 published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 12 August 2020, the new Article IV.79 of the Code of Economic Law (CEL) entered into force on 22 August 2020. Pursuant to (...)

The Competition College does not consider the relegation of the football club Waasland-Beveren to division 1B prima facie incompatible with competition law* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has on the 2nd of July 2020 imposed on the Pro League (Belgian premium (...)

COVID-19 measures* The offices of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) are closed until further notice. All staff members are teleworking and the handling of cases will continue. While we strive to ensure the continuity of public service, the containment measures imposed by the Government (...)

Interim measure imposed on the Belgian Bumper Pool Association concerning the bumper pool balls that may be played with in competitions and matches* At the request of HCSB BVBA (manufacturer of bumper pool balls), the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has imposed (...)

Interim measure imposed on Orange and Proximus in respect of the joint venture for the sharing of the mobile radio access networks* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has at the request of Telenet Group NV and Telenet BVBA (Telenet) imposed on 8 January 2020 an (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority is conducting inspections in the pharmaceutical sector* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) is currently conducting inspections at the premises of companies suspected of having implemented restrictive practices (...)

Guide on the exchange of information in the framework of professional association* After completing the public consultations, the Board of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has adopted on the 1st of October 2019 a guide on the exchange of information in the framework of professional (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority approves the acquisition of International Duty Free S.A. by Lagardère Travel Retail S.A.S.* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has approved on 12 September 2019 the acquisition of International Duty Free S.A. (...)

The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority condemns “l’Ordre des pharmaciens – Orde der apothekers” for having tried to hinder the development of the MediCare-Market group and imposes a fine of 1 million euros* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms the inspections at retail chains* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) confirms that the BCA is conducting inspections at the premises of some companies active in the retail sector. These companies are (...)

The Competition College of the BCA has approved conditionally the acquisition of sole control of De Vijver Media by Telenet* the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has approved conditionally on 13 May 2019 the acquisition of sole control by Telenet Group BVBA (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority has partially accepted the request of Kinepolis to lift the conditions imposed in 1997 and modified in 2010, as from 25 March 2019* On 31 March 2017 Kinepolis has filed a request to lift the conditions imposed by the Competition Council in 1997 in respect of (...)

The Competition College of the BCA has refused to impose an interim measure on the Royal Meteorological Institute as requested by The Great Circle* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has refused on 15 February 2019 to impose an interim measure on the Belgian (...)

The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority has closed several inquiries concerning restrictive practices on the one hand the travel sector and on the other hand the freight handlers in the Flemish ports* In the course of 2006, the College of Competition (...)

The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the BCA adopts a settlement decision for imposing maximum discount levels on a network of dealers and imposes a fine amounting to 98.000 EUR* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) sanctions the company (...)

The Competition College of the BCA imposed an interim measure on Norkring België* On 22 January 2019, the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) imposed an interim measure on NV Norkring België (Norkring) in order to ensure the continuity of the FM broadcasts of VRT in (...)

The Competition College of the BCA imposes interim measures on ABB Industrial Solutions regarding lids for electricity meter boxes* On 3 September 2018, the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) imposed interim measures, at the request of TECO NV, on ABB Industrial (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms the inspection in the immunoglobulin sector* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) confirms the inspection conducted in Belgium, at the request of the Romanian Competition Council, at the premises of (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms the inspection in the fire protection sector* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) confirms that the BCA is conducting an inspection at the premises of an enterprise active in the fire protection sector (...)

The Competition College of the BCA imposed penalty payments on the FEI, the SPRL Global Champions League and the SPRL Tops Trading Belgium* The Competition College of the BCA has imposed on 13 April 2018 penalty payments on the Fédération Equestre Internationale, the SPRL Global Champions League (...)

THE BELGIAN COMPETITION AUTHORITY APPROVES THE ACQUISITION OF ROYAL SPORTING CLUB ANDERLECHT BY ALYCHLO* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has approved on 28 March 2018 the acquisition of Royal Sporting Club Anderlecht by Alychlo. The (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms the inspections at distributors of cosmetic goods* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) confirms that the BCA and the “Autorité de la concurrence” (France) conducted inspections at the premises of (...)

THE COMPETITION COLLEGE OF THE BCA AUTHORISES CONDITIONALLY THE ACQUISITION OF GARAGES OF THE GROUP KANT BY VOLVO GROUP BELGIUM* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has authorised on 31 January 2018 the acquisition of garages of Kant NV by Volvo Group Belgium NV. (...)

The Competition College of the BCA imposes interim measures in the context of competitions of the Global Champions Tour* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has imposed on 20 December 2017 interim measures on the organisers of the Global Champions Tour (GCT), the (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has rejected a request for interim measures of the Medicare-Market group* The SA Medicare-Market (hereafter Medicare-Market) filed on 2 June 2016 a complaint against the Order of Pharmacists and requested interim measures on 28 April 2017. The (...)

THE BCA HAS APPROVED CONDITIONALLY THE ACQUISITION OF CODITEL BY TELENET* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has approved conditionally on 12 June 2017 the acquisition of Coditel Brabant SPRL and her subsidiary Coditel SARL (hereafter ‘Coditel’) by Telenet Group (...)

Evaluation of the notification thresholds for concentrations in Belgium* The Code of Economic Law provides that the merger control provisions only apply where, together, the undertakings concerned have a turnover of more than EUR 100 million in Belgium and, at least two of the undertakings (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority imposes fines totalling 1 779 000 euros for a cartel in the context of a public contract* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (hereinafter “the Investigation and Prosecution Service”) sanctions a cartel between five (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority fines Algist Bruggeman 5.489.000 euros for resale price maintenance and impeding low priced competitors regarding fresh bakers’ yeast* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) fines Algist Bruggeman nv and her mother (...)

The Competition College of the BCA has rejected the application for interim measures of Alken-Maes versus AB InBev regarding the acquisition of Bosteels* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has rejected on 21 November 2016 the application for interim measures of (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms inspections at several companies active in the wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical and para-pharmaceuticals products to pharmacies* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (hereafter “BCA”) confirms that the (...)

THE COMPETITION COLLEGES OF THE BCA HAS APPROVED CONDITIONALLY THE ACQUISITION OF AMP AND LS DISTRIBUTION BENELUX BY BPOST* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has on 8 November 2016 conditionally approved the acquisition of AMP NV and LS Distribution Benelux NV by (...)

The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority has closed its investigation against Immoweb due to commitments offered by Immoweb* On January 30 2015, the Investigation and Prosecution Service opened an ex officio investigation against Immoweb, the company (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms the inspection at an undertaking active in the distribution and sale of infra-red cabins* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (hereafter “BCA”) confirms that the BCA has conducted an inspection at the premises (...)

Real estate agents completely free in setting tariffs when selling real estate* The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) ends its investigation against the Professional Institute for real estate agents (BIV). Extensive research has shown that real estate agents are completely free in setting (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority confirms inspections at several undertakings active in the sale of non-prescription products in pharmacies* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (hereafter “BCA”) confirms that the BCA has conducted inspections this week (...)

The Investigation & Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority adopts a settlement decision for market sharing agreements between SMEs in the regular river cruise sector and imposes a fine amounting to 64,100 euros* The Investigation & Prosecution Service of the Belgian (...)

THE BELGIAN COMPETITION AUTHORITY (BCA) HAS APPROVED WITH REMEDIES THE ACQUISITION BY KINEPOLIS OF TWO OF THE FOUR MULTIPLEX CINEMAS OF UTOPOLIS The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has approved on 25 March 2016 the acquisition by Kinepolis of two of the four Utopolis (...)

THE COMPETITION COLLEGE OF THE BCA HAS AUTHORISED THE MERGER OF AHOLD AND DELHAIZE WITH REMEDIES* The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has authorised on the 15th of March 2016 the merger of Delhaize SA and Royal Ahold NV with the remedies proposed by the parties. The (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority adopts new leniency guidelines* The board of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has adopted new leniency guidelines on March 1 st,2016. These leniency guidelines replace the 2007 notice of the Competition Council on immunity from fines and reduction of (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority imposes fines amounting to 3.857.000 EUR for price-fixing in the sector of industrial batteries* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority sanctions 6 companies for price-fixing by applying an agreed lead surcharge to the (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority has decided to initiate an additional investigation in the case Mede-I/O-15/0030 regarding the acquisition by Kinepolis of the four multiplex cinemas Utopolis of the group Utopia in Flanders* On 12 October 2015, Kinepolis formally seized the Belgian (...)

Launch of a public consultation on new leniency guidelines* The BCA launches a public consultation in respect of the revision of its leniency guidelines. This revision was necessary following the introduction of sanctions and immunity from prosecution for natural persons in Book IV of the (...)

The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has imposed on the 5th of November 2015 provisional measures with regard to TV rights for the Superprestige cyclocross competition* The v.z.w. Verenigde Veldritorganisatoren (the organizer) and Telenet concluded an agreement granting (...)

The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has imposed a fine of 50 000 euro on Sanoma Media Belgium because they impeded an investigation by the late provision of information* The Competition College has decided that Sanoma Media Belgium N.V. (seller) impeded by negligence (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority imposes a fine of 1.190.000 EUR on the National Lottery for having abused its dominant position when launching its sports betting product Scooore!* The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority imposes a fine of 1.190.000 EUR (...)

The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has approved on 4 August 2015 the acquisition of Humo NV (publishers of the magazine Humo) and of the magazines Story, Teve-blad, and Vitaya by De Persgroep Publishing NV (publishers of newspapers and magazines with interests in (...)

The Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority imposed on 27 July 2015 on the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) as a provisional measure the partial suspension with regard to the Global Champions League of the Exclusivity Clause in the article 113(4)-(6) of its General (...)

On 30 June 2015 the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority, rejected an appeal of pharmacist Cuyckens against a dismissal decision of the Investigation and Prosecution Service of 31 March 2015.* Mr Cuyckens filed on 20 November 2002 a complaint with the Competition Council (...)

On 8 June, the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority has, on proposal of the Competition prosecutor, cleared the acquisition of Hertel Holding NV by Altrad Investment Authority SAS* The acquisition concerns the markets for industrial scaffolding services and industrial (...)

The Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority closes its investigation regarding the incorporation by Electrabel of the opportunity cost of greenhouse gas emission allowances it had received free of charge in its wholesale price for electricity.* In a complaint (...)

The Belgian Competition Authority publishes a Notice concerning the informal opinions of the President* The notice concerning the informal opinions of the President gives guidance on the conditions that may enable the President to issue an informal opinion and on the way to proceed. The (...)

The Prosecution body of the Belgian Competition Authority decides to dismiss the complaint of Spira against De Beers* The Prosecution body of the Belgian Competition Authority has decided to dismiss a complaint of Spira against De Beers. This decision is motivated by the priority management of (...)

The Board of the Belgian Competition Authority adopts new guidelines on the calculation of fines* The Board of the Belgian Competition Authority has on 26 August 2014 decided to revoke the Communication of the Belgian Competition Council on the calculation of fines of 19 December 2011 and to (...)

Press Release published on the official website of the Belgian Competition Authority . Decision of the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority holding an infringement of the prohibition of abuse of a dominant position by Electrabel* The Competition College of the Belgian (...)

Press Release published on the official website of the Belgian Competition Authority . Decision of the Competition College of the Belgian Competition Authority granting interim measures in a case concerning the distribution, repairs and maintenance of BMW and MINI cars* On 11 July the (...)