Francesco Martucci

In a judgment of February 16, 2023, the Court of Justice interpreted Article 15(1) of Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 12, 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector ("Privacy (...)

In a decision dated February 3, 2023, the Conseil d’Etat dismissed the action for misuse of power brought against Decree no. 2022-342 of March 11, 2022 and the Order of the same day by which additional volumes of electricity were exceptionally allocated to alternative suppliers in the context (...)

In a judgment dated February 2, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union provided two clarifications on the application of internal market rules to religious entities. On the one hand, it affirmed that Article 17(1) TFEU does not have the effect of removing from the scope of (...)

On January 27, 2023, the Conseil d’Etat, in chambers, annulled the decree of October 26, 2021 relating to the revision of certain support contracts for the production of electricity from photovoltaic sources provided for in Article 225 of the Finance Act of December 29, 2020, on the grounds (...)

By a decision dated January 27, 2023, the Conseil d’Etat, in chambers, ruled on the legality of decree no. 2021-1385 of October 26, 2021 and of the order of the same day issued for the application of article 225 of the finance law for 2021 of December 29, 2020. While the decree was annulled (...)

On the occasion of a reference for a preliminary ruling from the French Conseil d’Etat, the Court of Justice interpreted Article 4 of Council Directive 89/105/EEC of 21 December 1988 relating to the transparency of measures regulating the prices of medicinal products for human use and their (...)

In a decision dated December 9, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat ruled that the preventive archaeology fee provided for in Article L. 524-2 of the French Heritage Code does not involve State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. The ruling thus closes a jurisdictional saga that began with an (...)

The Court of Justice had received a question for a preliminary ruling on the validity of Article 30(5), first subparagraph, point (c), of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of (...)

On November 10, 2022, in the context of a preliminary question, the Court of Justice ruled on the interpretation of the provisions contained in Articles 11 and 12 of Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 7, 2002 on universal service and users’ rights (...)

This section selects books on themes related to competition laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three months after publication of the latest issue of (...)

In a ruling dated October 31, 2022, the Council of State rejected the appeal for excess of power the decree no. 2021-202 of February 23, 2021 modifying the conditions of organization of the examinations for access to the professions of cab driver and driver of car of transport with driver (...)

On October 6, 2022, the Council adopted a regulation allowing for emergency intervention to address high energy prices. This regulation is based on Article 122(1) TFEU, which empowers the Council to adopt "in a spirit of solidarity between Member States, measures appropriate to the economic (...)

In its advisory capacity, the Conseil d’État found that a provision of the bill on the acceleration of renewable energies contained a device constituting illegal state aid. On August 8, 2022, the Council received a request for an opinion on a bill that the Government presented on September 26, (...)

In an opinion dated July 25, 2022, the Competition Authority considers that it has "no competence to control State aid, including that granted to undertakings entrusted with services of general economic interest" (point 53). While this position is understandable when the Competition Authority (...)

In a ruling dated July 2, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat found the CREWS fee rates for the 2011 to 2016 rate periods to be legal. It also ruled on the preliminary question submitted in December 2021 by the Paris Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal was seized of a dispute between Aéroports de Paris (...)

On July 13, 2022, the Lyon Administrative Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal against a decision by the Clermont-Ferrand Administrative Court to order the State to pay 588,265 euros in compensation for damages resulting from the lack of prior notification to the European Commission of tariff (...)

In a ruling dated July 12, 2022, the Council of State rejected the appeal brought by Eric Zemmour and CNEWS against the decision of the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) n°2021-2018 of March 17, 2021 imposing a financial penalty of 200,000 euros on the company operating an information (...)

The Administrative Court of Appeal of Nantes has ordered an expert appraisal in the case of illegal aid from ONIFLHOR-FranceAgriMer in order to assess whether this aid had indeed been recovered from an agricultural cooperative company. We recall the saga of State aid to French campaign plans (...)

In a decision dated June 21, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat declared inadmissible the appeal lodged by Outremer Télécom against ARCEP’s decision of December 9, 2020 giving formal notice to Free Caraïbe to comply with its obligations relating to the provisions of ARCEP’s decision no. 2017-1038 of (...)

By a judgment dated June 16, 2022, the Court of Justice interpreted Article 15(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1315/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 11, 2013, on Union guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network as meaning that, where an inland (...)

In an order dated June 9, 2022, the interim relief judge of the Conseil d’Etat annulled the order by which the interim relief judge of the Paris Administrative Court had enjoined the Prime Minister to confirm the existence of the authorizations granted to SFR and its subsidiary, Société (...)

In a judgment dated June 2, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled out the application of competition rules to the provision of air navigation services linked to the exercise of public authority. In this case, a dispute arose between the autonomous public undertaking Skeyes and (...)

In an order dated May 5, 2022, the interim relief judge of the Conseil des of the Conseil d’État rejected the request made by the by the trade union federations and the directors of Électricité de France employees ofÉlectricité de France [hereafter EDF] to suspend the suspend the execution of (...)

A series of associations for the fight against air pollution and environmental protection have filed an action for misuse of power against the decisions of the Prime Minister and the President of the Republic implicitly rejecting on May 12 and 15, 2021 their request for implementation of (...)

In a ruling dated March 11, 2022, the Council of State ruled out that Decree No. 2019-722 of July 9, 2019 on compensation for damage caused to domestic herds by the wolf, bear and lynx constitutes new aid. It rejected the appeal brought by environmental protection associations brought against (...)

In a ruling dated March 10, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat decided to ask a preliminary question in order to clarify the scope of the omnibus regulation (Regulation (EU) No. 1308/2013 of December 17, 2013 on the common organization of the markets in agricultural products, OJEU 2013 L 347, p. 671), (...)

In a decision dated March 2, 2022, the Council of State rejected the appeal for excess of power brought against Decree No. 2019-1426 of December 20, 2019 taken for the application of X bis of Article 199 novovicies of the General Tax Code and relating to the ceiling on fees and commissions of (...)

In a decision dated March 2, 2022, the Conseil d’Etat rejected the request of an electricity end-user to obtain reimbursement of the contribution to the public service of electricity [hereafter CSPE] on the sole presentation of guarantees of origin not corresponding to the purchases concerned (...)

By a law of February 28, 2022, the legislator proceeded to a modernization of the regulation of the art market. This regulation has existed since 2000 (Law n° 2000-642 of July 10, 2000 regulating voluntary sales of furniture by public auction) and had been entrusted to the Conseil des ventes (...)

In a judgment dated February 24, 2022, the Court of Justice clarified the Member States’ room for maneuver in regulating access to the network as governed by Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 13, 2009, concerning common rules for the internal market in (...)

In a judgment dated January 18, 2022, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 12, 2006, on services in the internal market cannot be invoked in a dispute between individuals concerning the fixing of (...)

The Conseil d’Etat has rejected the appeal for excess brought by Bouygues Telecom and SFR against ARCEP’s refusal to request the amendment of the February 19, 2020 rider to the roaming contract between Free Mobile and Orange extending its execution for two years. Free Mobile entered the mobile (...)

The Conseil d’Etat dismissed the appeal lodged by Enedis requesting the annulment of the deliberation of the Commission de régulation de l’énergie ["CRE"] of June 25, 2019, concerning the evolution on August 1, 2019 of the tariff schedule of the tariffs for the use of the public electricity (...)

In four rulings dated November 15, 2021, the Conseil d’État applied the conditions set out in a Commission decision declaring a state aid compatible with the internal market. In this case, individuals challenged the tax authorities’ refusal to grant them the income tax reduction provided for (...)

This On-topic proposes to bring together the views of academics and practitioners on competition issues in the energy sector. Among the many questions raised by this vast subject, the authors have chosen to focus on themes that invite the reader to understand the extent to which the fourth (...)

In a decision dated October 6, 2021, the Conseil d’Etat dismissed an appeal against the implicit decision of rejection resulting from the silence of the Prime Minister by the ministers in charge of labor, higher education and the budget on the request made by the company Galileo Global (...)

This section selects books on themes related to competition laws and economics. This compilation does not attempt to be exhaustive but rather a survey of themes important in the area. The survey usually covers publication over the last three months after publication of the latest issue of (...)

In this decision dated September 29, 2021, the Council of State rejected the appeal against the decisions of the administrative court of appeal of Marseilles ordering the Corsican local authority to pay damages to the company Corsica Ferries France for the payment of illegal and incompatible (...)

On September 10, 2021, the French Minister of the Economy adopted an order soberly entitled "relating to foreign investments in France". The aim was to extend the authorisation regime for foreign investments provided for in Articles R. 151-1 to R. 151-17 of the Monetary and Financial Code to (...)

In a judgment of 9 September 2021, the Court of Justice has provided interesting clarifications on the relationship between the regulatory body and the railway infrastructure manager as derived from Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 (...)

Article 85 of the law on combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects provides for a support mechanism for electricity storage capacities. Established by a new article L. 352-1-1 C. én., the system comes into play when the electricity storage capacities do not meet the (...)

Article 15 of the law on combating climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects provides for the Electronic Communications, Posts and Press Distribution Regulatory Authority ["ARCEP"] and the Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel ["CSA"] to publish a report every two years measuring (...)

On 15 July 2021, the Court of Justice held that European Union law precludes national legislation providing for the presence, on a collegiate body competent to give an opinion on the grant of a commercial development authorisation, of qualified persons representing the economic fabric of the (...)

By judgment of 8 July 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled on a reference for a preliminary ruling from a German court in a case between the applicant in the main proceedings, KA, and the Bundesamt für Güterverkehr (Federal Office for Goods Transport, (Federal Office for (...)

In a judgment of 8 July 2021, the Court of Justice interpreted Directive 2001/14/EC as requiring that a railway undertaking in receipt of an access authorisation must have the right to challenge the amount of the individual charges set by the infrastructure manager before the regulatory body (...)

In 2009, Erisay Receptions moved all of its activities to a site that it intended to equip with a photovoltaic panel installation for the purpose of selling electricity to EDF. On the basis of a study on the economic viability of a photovoltaic power plant, prepared by Photon Technologies on (...)

On June 12, 2021, the law authorizing the ratification of the Agreement on the termination of bilateral investment treaties between Member States of the European Union, signed in Brussels on May 5, 2020, was published (Agreement on the termination of bilateral investment treaties between (...)

In two judgments dated May 12, 2021 and March 31, 2021, the Court of Cassation reiterated its case law according to which damage resulting from the loss of the opportunity to benefit from a measure involving unlawful State aid is not compensable. In the judgment of 12 May 2021, it rejected the (...)

In a decision dated April 27, 2021, the Conseil d’Etat upheld the decision of the Nantes Administrative Court of Appeal regarding the calculation of the damages suffered by the Loire-Atlantique department as a result of a cartel. In this case, the Loire-Atlantique department had concluded five (...)

The judgment of the Athens Court of Appeal of 22 April 2021 addresses the delicate issue of the recovery of illegal and incompatible state aid. Under the principle of loyal cooperation, it is for the national authorities to implement the recovery obligation as determined by the European (...)

In a first judgment (No. 442464), in two sets of joint applications, companies in the publishing sector asked the Conseil d’État to annul Decision No. 2020-0682 of 19 June 2020 of the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse (ARCEP) (...)

In a ruling dated 15 April 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on a request for a preliminary ruling submitted by the Conseil d’État in the case of Eutelsat SA against the French regulatory authority for electronic communications and posts ["ARCEP"]. This highly complex (...)

In two judgments of 14 April 2021, the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal against judgments of the Court of Appeal of Aix-en-Provence concerning the recovery of unlawful and incompatible State aid granted to the Société nationale Corse Méditerranée [’SNCM’]. The first appeal (19-22.933) (...)

In a ruling dated 8 April 2021, the Council of State rejected the request of Bouygues Télécom and SFR to annul the prior authorisation regime to which telephone operators are subject for the operation of their 5G relay antennas. More specifically, challenged by an action for excess of power (...)

In a ruling dated April 8, 2021, the Conseil d’État dismissed the appeal for excess of power brought against Decree No. 2019-1592 of December 31, 2019 amending Decree No. 2007-1532 of October 24, 2007, as amended, relating to the fees for the use of radio frequencies payable by holders of (...)

In a judgment dated 7 April 2021, the Council of State held that the recipient of State aid under a de minimis scheme may waive previous aid to avoid exceeding the ceilings set by the regulations. At issue in this case was Commission Regulation (EU) No 1407/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the (...)

In an order dated March 4, 2021, the interim relief judge of the Council of State rejected the request for suspension of the penalty imposed on Google LLC and Google Ireland Limited, subsidiaries of the Google LLC group, by the CNIL’s restricted panel (decision SAN-2020-012 of December 7, (...)

In a judgment of 3 March 2021, the Court of Justice refused to answer a question referred for a preliminary ruling on allegedly anti-competitive State legislation. It did, however, give an answer to the State aid part of the question (see the State aid section of this issue). Tax collection (...)

By judgment of 25 February 2021, the Court of Justice dismissed the appeal against a judgment of the Court of First Instance dismissing as inadmissible an action for annulment of the decision allegedly contained in a letter sent by the European Commission to the Dutch Consumer and Market (...)

In a judgment of 27 January 2021, the Court of Justice once again reviewed the conditions under which a charge for occupation of the public domain may be levied on undertakings providing fixed telephony and internet access services, in compliance with Articles 12 and 13 of (...)

In a ruling dated December 31, 2020, the Conseil d’Etat overturned ARCEP’s implicit decision of towerCast ’s request that a new analysis of the upstream wholesale market for terrestrial digital television broadcasting be undertaken and submitted for public consultation before the end of the (...)

In five rulings dated 30 December 2020, the French Council of State signed the epilogue to the saga of aid to fishermen hit by the Erika disaster and the 1999 storm. It rejected the appeal lodged by the Minister of Agriculture against a decision of the Administrative Court of Appeal annulling (...)

In a judgment dated 30 December 2020, the Conseil d’État applied the criterion of affecting trade between Member States in order to rule out the classification as State aid within the meaning of Article 107(1) TFEU. In the present case, the applicant challenged the legality of a provision of (...)

While the Court of Cassation has closed the ten-year dispute concerning the increases in retirement pensions for raised children, paid by the supplementary pension scheme for executives (Agirc) (Cass. soc. 9 Oct. 2019, No. 18-19.085, FR:CCASS:2019:SO01376; see J. Barthélémy, J.-J. Gatineau, (...)

The Council of State rejected the request for suspension submitted on the basis of Article L. 521-1 C. just. adm. against a series of "decisions" relating to the creation of notarial offices or appointment to a notarial office. The request concerned the decision to close the investigation into (...)

By a judgment dated 17 December 2020, the Court of Justice dismissed the appeals brought against a judgment of the General Court (Trib. EU, 19 March 2019, Inpost Paczkomaty sp. z o.o. and Inpost, Case T-282/16 and T-283/16, EU:T:2019:168) dismissing actions for annulment of Commission Decision (...)

In a decision dated December 2, 2020, the French Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Lyon Court of Appeal handed down in one of the many disputes relating to the moratorium decree of December 9, 2010 suspending the mechanism of electricity feed-in tariffs in the photovoltaic (...)

In a judgment dated 27 November 2020, the Conseil d’État dismissed the action brought by Île-de-France Mobilités, formerly STIF, requesting the cancellation of c) of 2° and c) of 4° of Article 1 of Order No. 2019-183 of 11 March 2019 relating to the framework for modifying the charges for the (...)

By an order dated 27 November, the Italian Court of Cassation condemned a lower court for not correctly applying the de minimis state aid rule. The applicant company had challenged the administration’s refusal of a tax deduction on the grounds that the de minimis aid ceiling had been exceeded. (...)

On 25 November 2020, the Court of Justice dismissed the action for failure to fulfil obligations brought by the Commission against Portugal on the ground that the extraordinary contribution to the compensation fund did not comply with the requirements arising from Article 13(3) and Part B of (...)

In a judgment of 12 November 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that Austria had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law by designating an authority other than the "safety authority" referred to in the Railway Safety Directive as the "competentauthority" for the (...)

On 22 October 2020, the Council of the Italian Communications Authority ["AGCOM"] imposed an administrative fine of EUR 100 000 on Google for violation of the ban on gambling advertising (https://www.agcom.it/documents/10179/20239702/Delibera+541-20-CONS/437a3135-8b8b-4ad4-a01b-2aaae894c30c?version=

By a deliberation dated 21 October 2020, the CSA authorized the retransmission of Mixed Martial Arts fights or Mixed Martial Arts ["MMA"] as well as their broadcast on television and on audiovisual media services on demand. In doing so, the audiovisual regulator went back on its recommendation (...)

In a judgment dated 16 October 2020, the Conseil d’État dismissed the action for annulment brought by the Union des aéroports français et francophones against Decision No. 1807 of 25 October 2018 of the Independent Airport Charges Supervisory Authority relating to the elements necessary for (...)

In a judgment dated 16 October 2020, the Italian Court of Cassation put an end to the Traghetti del Mediterraneo saga after the Court of Justice delivered its third judgment in January 2019 (CJEU, 23 January 2019, Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri v Fallimento Traghetti del Mediterraneo (...)

In a judgment dated 15 October 2020, the Conseil d’Etat ruled on the conditions under which the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) publishes its sanctions for violations of the rules on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing as provided for in Directive (...)

The Council of State rejected the appeal for excess of power brought against the order of 3 December 2018 issued in application of Article 52 of the Macron Act (Act No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for growth, activity and equal economic opportunities for the notary profession). This order set (...)

By judgment of 17 September 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union considers that Romanian legislation interpreted by the regulatory authority as requiring national electricity producers to offer all the electricity available on the hubs operated by the sole operator designated for (...)

In a judgment of 15 September 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union, sitting as a Grand Chamber, ruled that bundles implemented by an Internet service provider through agreements with end-users which have the effect of limiting access to the Internet are incompatible with EU law. To (...)

By a decision dated 22 July 2020, the Conseil d’État confirmed compensation for damage suffered by a company affected by unlawful State aid paid to a competitor. This judgment is the culmination of the CELF saga which began in 1992 concerning aid measures granted by the French authorities to a (...)

In a judgment dated 16 July 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled that Hungary has partially complied with the directives of the third energy package. In the present case, the Commission had brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations after having, in 2013, in the context of ’EU (...)

In a judgment dated 10 July 2020, the Conseil d’État confirmed its case law ruling that a company receiving incompatible aid may not claim that the State is liable for the payment of that aid. In the present case, it dismissed the appeal brought by EARL Valette in proceedings relating to the (...)

In a judgment dated 25 June 2020, the Conseil d’État applied the CELF case law (CJCE, GC, 12 Feb. 2008, Centre d’exportation du livre français (CELF), aff. C-199/06, EU:C:2008:79). In the context of a contractual dispute, it draws all the consequences of the Commission’s declaration of (...)

An action was brought before the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic by the President of the Slovak Republic seeking a declaration that the legislative provisions relating to the appointment and dismissal of the President of the Úrad pre reguláciu siet’ových odvetví (Regulatory (...)

Order No 2020-317 of 25 March 2020 created a solidarity fund for companies particularly affected by the economic, financial and social consequences of the spread of the covid19 epidemic and the measures taken to limit this spread. The Government has adopted a decree on the organization of this (...)

On 26 March 2020, the European Commission published a Communication on "Guidance for Member States on foreign direct investment and the free movement of capital from third countries and the protection of European strategic assets, with a view to the application ofRegulation (EU) 2019/452", (...)

By its Amending Finance Act, the legislature authorized the Government to grant a State guarantee for cash loans granted by credit institutions to companies in the context of the health crisis. The aim was to meet the financing needs of French companies whose business was suffering a sudden (...)

In its Amending Finance Act, the legislature authorised the Government to extend the conditions for granting the State guarantee granted in connection with reinsurance operations by companies authorised to carry on credit insurance operations in France for political and commercial export (...)

By judgment of 19 March 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified the interpretation of Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council (...)

In a judgment of 18 March 2020, the Council of State applied the CELF case law on unlawful and compatible State aid (CJEC, gde ch., 12 February 2008, CELF, aff. C-199/06, EU:C:2008:79 ; CJEU, 11 March 2010, CELF, aff. C-1/09, EU:C:2010:136 CE, 29 March 2006, CELF, No. 274923 CE, 19 Dec. 2006, (...)

On 27 February 2020, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that the actions taken by Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) to promote and market electronic signature certificates offered by the ChamberSign association do not constitute State aid. The dispute is interesting in that (...)

On February 27, 2020, the Paris Administrative Court of Appeal ruled that Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) are entitled to promote and market electronic signature certificates offered by the ChamberSign association. In the present case, a company asked the administrative judge to annul (...)

In a ruling dated 26 February 2020, the Council of State dismissed the appeal brought against the refusal of the Minister of Solidarity and Health to repeal Decree No. 2015-1680 of 15 December 2015 on the programme to modernise the information and telecommunications systems of the emergency (...)

On 26 February 2020, the President of the Republic adopted the Ordinance on the settlement by the Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission of the reimbursement of the contribution to the public electricity service (CSPE). The aim was to draw the consequences of the dispute concerning the (...)

In a judgment dated 4 February 2020, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Douai upheld the judgment of the administrative court which annulled the decision of the Hauts-de-France region ordering the recovery of aid paid under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). On the other hand, (...)

The Conseil d’État dismissed the action for abuse of power brought by the Compagnie des experts architectes près la cour d’appel de Paris (CEACAP) against the decree and the agreement of 18 April 2017 concluded between the Ministry of Justice and the Conseil national des compagnies d’experts (...)

In a judgment of 23 January 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted Article 37 of Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity (OJEU L 211 of 14 August 2009, p. 55). At the (...)

On 24 December 2019, the Council of State enshrined the principle of State responsibility for the unconstitutionality of a law found to be unconstitutional on the basis of a priority question of constitutionality. However, in the present case, State liability was not incurred on the ground (...)

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has clarified the concept of electronic communications network provision in a preliminary ruling on 11 December 2019. This decision is in line with the France Télévisions decision handed down one year earlier (CJEU, 13 Dec. 2018, France (...)

By judgment of 4 December 2019, the Court of Justice dismissed the appeal against an order of the General Court of the European Union of 15 March 2018 dismissing an action brought by a company against Commission Decision C(2016) 6950 of 28 October 2016, on the revision of the derogation (...)

In a judgment handed down on 4 December 2019, the Conseil d’État ruled that an action for misuse of powers brought by the Fédération Bancaire Française (FBF) against an opinion of the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) of 8 September 2017 on ’Implementation of the European (...)

By a judgment of 21 November 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified the procedure for the determination of airport charges established by Directive 2009/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2009 on airport charges (OJEU L 70, 14 March 2009, p. (...)

In an initial ruling handed down on 6 November 2019, the Conseil d’État ruled that the methodology used by the Commission de régulation de l’énergie (CRE) to determine the amount of regulated electricity tariffs (TRVE), applicable as of 1 August 2018 to residential and non-residential (...)

By a judgment of 24 October 2019, the Council of State confirmed that Commission Decision 2009/402/EC declaring incompatible State aid relating to ’contingency plans’ must be interpreted as covering the aid paid by the Office national interprofessionnel des fruits, des légumes et de (...)

In a judgment of 24 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted the PSO Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on public passenger transport services by rail and by road) to leave freedom to competent (...)

In a judgment of 17 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union clarified, in the context of a reference for a preliminary ruling, the concept of electricity transmission and distribution networks under Directive 2009/72 (Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the (...)

In a decree dated October 17, 2019, the Government specified the terms and conditions for the application of State control over La Française des Jeux. It should be recalled that the Covenant Act provided for the privatization of this company by authorizing the transfer to the private sector of (...)

On 1 October 2019, the Prime Minister adopted a decree on the National Fund for Sustainable Employment in the Entertainment Industry (FONPEPS). The scheme concerns the creation of aid for recruitment on permanent or fixed-term contracts in the entertainment sector. It replaces four aid schemes (...)

On 26 September 2019, the Senate adopted the bill on the modernisation of press distribution. Title III of the bill is devoted to the regulation of press distribution and plans to entrust this regulation to the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la (...)

In two judgments handed down on 18 September 2019, the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation applied State aid law and held that the damage consisting of the loss of the chance to benefit from a tariff resulting from illegal State aid could not be made good. These judgments were handed (...)

By judgment of 10 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 establishing a single European railway area (OJ 2012 L 343, p. 32) as meaning that ’passenger platforms’, referred to in (...)

In a ruling dated 5 July 2019, the Council of State annulled Decree No. 2017-483 of 6 April 2017 on special public passenger transport activities and updating various provisions of the C. trans.... It considered that the Government had failed to enact the provisions necessary to ensure that (...)

By a judgment of 20 June 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union adopts a broad interpretation of the concept of electricity producer within the meaning of Directive 2003/87 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas (...)

By judgment of 13 June 2019, the Court of Justice ruled that the electronic mail service Gmail offered by Google does not constitute an electronic communications service within the meaning of Article 2(c) of Directive 2002/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on (...)

In a judgment of 5 June 2019, the Court of Justice ruled that the provision by the software publisher of a functionality offering a [Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)]service, which allows the user to call a fixed or mobile number from a national numbering plan via the public switched (...)

In a ruling dated 16 May 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal denied the classification as State aid of a decision adopted by the Conseil supérieur des messageries de presse (CSMP) and made enforceable by the Autorité de régulation de la distribution de la presse (ARDP). Following the difficulties (...)

In a judgment of 2 May 2019, the Court of Justice clarified the conditions under which an electricity supplier may grant a reduction in the charges for access to the electricity system only to final customers who have opted for electronic billing. In the present case, the Finnish company Oulun (...)

By a judgment of 16 April 2019, the Conseil d’État interpreted the concept of ’micro, small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) within the meaning of Article 2 of Annex I to Commission Regulation (EC) No 800/2008 of 6 August 2008 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the common (...)

In a judgment dated 5 April 2019, the Conseil d’État ruled out the recognition of the absolute impossibility of recovering State aid illegally paid to a company placed in compulsory liquidation. In the present case, the company Mandataires Judiciaires Associés, acting in its capacity as (...)

In the Pact bill, the legislator has provided for the legal framework for the use of connection data by the AMF during its investigations to be clarified in order to reconcile the effectiveness of its investigations with the protection of the right to privacy. The aim is to draw the (...)

In the Pact bill, the legislator seized the opportunity to initiate a reform of regulated electricity tariffs. By amendment, the bill has been amended to specify that the Government is authorized to take any measure by ordinance to ’bring the system of regulated tariffs for the sale of (...)

In the Pacte bill, it is (finally!) planned to bring regulated sales and gas tariffs into line with European Union law. Whereas the Council of State had, according to the interpretation given by the Court of Justice (CJEU, GC, 7 Sept. 2016, ANODE, aff. C-121/15, EU:C:2016:637), found that the (...)

In the Pact bill as amended by the National Assembly, it is provided that the legislator may allow the administrative authority or the Energy Regulation Commission, each in their respective areas of competence, to grant exemptions from the conditions of access and use of networks and (...)

A few months after the Union’s legislator enshrined the existence of ’virtual currencies’, regulation of the activity of service providers on digital assets is due to be introduced in France. Under the Pacte Act, a provision is to be adopted adding a Chapter X entitled ’Digital Asset Service (...)

As part of the Pact bill, the legislature has provided for a reform of the gambling sector. More specifically, the aim is to privatize the capital of La Française des Jeux by authorizing the transfer to the private sector of the majority of that company’s capital. However, the transformed (...)

In a judgment dated 13 March 2019, the Conseil d’État ruled that the profit-sharing tax credit scheme does not confer a selective advantage and therefore ruled out classification as State aid. 583,153 resulting from the application to the 2011 and 2012 financial years of the profit-sharing tax (...)

In a ruling of 6 February 2019, the Court of Cassation specifies that the administrative judge is competent to hear actions for unfair competition brought against hospitals. In this case, a private clinic accused a surgeon of having ceased her activity without complying with the notice and (...)

In October 2018, the Italian Council of State referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling a question on the compatibility with EU law of the obligation laid down by the legislature to require the conversion of the banques populaires into joint stock companies where their assets exceed EUR 8 (...)

In a question introduced by the Conseil d’État, the Court of Justice interpreted Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on universal service and users’ rights relating to electronic communications networks and services, as amended by Directive (...)

Vitogaz France has filed two applications, which the Council of State has joined. First, it sought annulment of the implied decision by which the Prime Minister refused to repeal Articles R. 221-2 and R. 221-3 and Article R. 221-4 of the Energy Code relating to energy saving certificates and (...)

In a reference for a preliminary ruling from an Italian administrative court hearing a dispute between the national regulator and operators, the Court of Justice has provided a useful interpretation of Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 (...)

In a judgment of 14 November 2018, the Court of Justice provided some interesting clarifications on the power of Member States to reserve the pursuit of activities to profit-making entities. At issue was the activity of guarding cinerary urns in Italy. The rules of the municipality of Padua (...)

In a judgment of 13 September 2018, the Court of Justice clarified the conditions under which national banking supervisory authorities may disclose confidential information to a person who so requests in order to be able to bring civil or commercial proceedings for the protection of pecuniary (...)

In a judgment of 13 September 2018, the Court of Justice clarified the scope of the obligation of professional secrecy incumbent on national financial supervisors. It answered a preliminary question referred by the Luxembourg court before which companies have been referred by the financial (...)

By two judgments dated 26 July 2018, the Conseil d’État referred a question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the provisions of a Commission decision ordering the recovery of incompatible State aid. In the present case, ONIFLHOR (Office national (...)

In a decision dated 24 July 2018, the Administrative Court of Appeal of Versailles annulled the judgement by which the Administrative Court of Cergy-Pontoise had classified as State aid the water tax levied by Voies navigables de France pursuant to articles L. 4311-1 and L. 4316-3 C. trans. (...)

In a judgment of 12 July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted EU law as not precluding national legislation providing for unequal conditions of competition in the fisheries sector. This ruling illustrates how fundamental rights are invoked by operators to challenge (...)

In a ruling dated 29 June 2018 mentioned in the tables of the Lebon collection, the Conseil d’État decided not to refer to the Constitutional Council a priority constitutionality issue concerning Articles 575 and 575 A of the General Tax Code concerning the determination of the consumer duty (...)

In a judgment of 19 June 2018, the Court of Justice clarified the scope of the obligation of professional secrecy incumbent on national financial supervisors by clarifying in particular the concept of "confidential information". To that end, it interpreted Directive 2004/39/EC of the European (...)

In a judgment of 13 June 2018, the European Commission found that Poland had failed to fulfil its obligations under EU law by failing to adopt the measures necessary to ensure the organisational and decision-making independence of the investigating body from the railway undertaking and the (...)

By a judgment of 31 May 2018, the Court of Justice provided some interesting clarifications on the interpretation of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and (...)

On December 21, 2017, the Paris Court of Appeals ruled on the French Competition Authority’s Decision No. 16-D-11 of June 6, 2016. on practices in the terrestrial television broadcasting sector. However, only paragraphs 39 to 69 of the judgment are relevant in so far as they relate to the (...)

In a judgment of 20 December 2017, the Court of Justice clarified the scope of the pricing powers exercised by the national regulatory authority against the operator designated as having significant market power under the Access Directive (Directive 2002/19/EC of the European Parliament and of (...)

On 20 December 2017, the Court of Justice handed down a long-awaited ruling on the classification in Union law of the services offered by Uber. It defines as a "service in the field of transport" under EU law the intermediation service whose purpose is, by means of a smartphone application, to (...)

On 13 December 2017, the so-called "omnibus" regulation was adopted, simplifying the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It is planned to extend the prerogatives of producer organisations, already existing in sectors such as olive oil or beef, in order to strengthen the place of farmers in the (...)

In a decision dated 24 November 2017, the Constitutional Council declared that the provisions of the Transport Code governing the sanction procedure before the Airport Nuisance Control Authority are contrary to the principle of impartiality. It had been seized of a priority constitutionality (...)

In a judgment of 24 November 2017, the Council of State scrupulously applied the rules laid down by the Court of Justice to identify the company from which the national authorities must recover illegal and incompatible state aid in the event of company succession. Once again, at issue was (...)

In a judgment of 17 November 2017, the Conseil d’État once again rejected the plea raised by the applicants challenging the legality of a regulatory act on the grounds that it had not been submitted to the Competition Authority for consultation. It should be recalled that under Article L. (...)

The Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified the delicate relationship between the regulator and the judge in the railway sector. In Germany, a rail transport company (CTL Logistics) uses the railway infrastructure managed by the licensed public company DB Netz. The latter makes (...)

In a ruling dated 25 October 2017, the Conseil d’État monitored compliance by the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) with the rights of defence of a company that had substituted itself for another company during the course of proceedings by virtue of a merger-takeover (...)

In a judgment of 26 July 2017, the Court of Justice clarified the conditions under which national authorities may decide to replace a selection procedure for the allocation of digital broadcasting frequencies with a new procedure. To this end, it interprets the Authorisation, Framework and (...)

On July 19, 2017, the Conseil d’État annulled Decree No. 2013-400 of May 16, 2013 amending Decree No. 2009-1603 of December 18, 2009 on regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas. It ruled after referring a question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of (...)

By judgment of 15 June 2017, the Court of Justice interpreted Article 9(1) of Directive 97/67/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 1997 on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service. (...)

On 7 June 2017, the European Commission approved the Banco Popular Español’s resolution plan on the basis of the proposal submitted by the Single Resolution Council. The solution chosen was to provide for the sale of the bank to a stronger financial institution (Banco Santander). As a result, (...)

In a judgment dated 24 May 2017, the Council of State ruled on a series of joint applications challenging the legality of the regulatory acts adopted to implement the provisions of the Macron Act relating to regulated tariffs for regulated legal professions. The actions for misuse of power (...)

Advocate General Szpunar has delivered his Opinion on the classification of the activity carried on by Uber in Spain and France as services. In a first case, a question has been referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling by a Spanish court before which a trade association of (...)

EDA is a Belgian company offering directory enquiry and directory services accessible from the Belgian territory. It has asked companies that assign telephone numbers to subscribers in the Netherlands to make their subscriber data available to it. After these companies refused, EDA challenged (...)

In a judgment of 15 March 2017, the Court of Justice ruled that Article 96(1) TFEU does not apply to taxi services. This provision prohibits the application by Member States "to transport carried out within the Union, the application by Member States of rates and conditions which contain any (...)

On March 21, 2017, Decree No. 2017-369 was published on the terms and conditions for regulated access to historic nuclear electricity (JORF of March 23, 2017), which was adopted after the French Competition Authority issued its opinion last February. The regulatory authority intervened to (...)

On 28 December 2016, the Council of State annulled the decrees setting the tariffs applicable to private non-profit health establishments for the years 2015 and 2016. Pursuant to Articles L. 162-22-10 and R. 162-42-1 of the Social Security Code, the ministers responsible for health and social (...)

On 20 December 2016, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on the freedom of establishment of judicial auctioneers and a proposal for a location map. The opinion is issued pursuant to the "Macron Law" (Law No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for growth, activity and equal economic (...)

On 14 December 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its first judgment on appeal in a case concerning the European Banking Authority (EBA). It should be recalled that in the wake of the financial crisis, the European Union has established a European System of Financial (...)

In the so-called Sapin law, there is a provision to strengthen cooperation between the Online Gaming Regulatory Authority (ARJEL) and three other regulatory authorities. Article 76 of this law introduces three new provisions after Article 39 of Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010 on the opening to (...)

The Conseil d’État dismissed the action seeking annulment on the ground of misuse of powers of the implied decision by which the Minister for Agriculture, Agri-Food and Forestry rejected his application for the repeal of Decree No 97-456 of 5 May 1997 on horse-racing companies and pari-mutuel (...)

In a decision of 8 December 2016, the Constitutional Council decided that the provisions of the so-called "Sapin Law" (Law on Transparency, Fighting Corruption and Modernization of Economic Life) aimed at enabling the High Council for Financial Stability to take various macro-prudential (...)

The European Commission has presented a proposal for a regulation to establish a framework for the recovery and resolution of central counterparties. In the event of public support, a State aid control must be carried out under the conditions explained by the Commission. A framework for (...)

The Council of State has dismissed the action for annulment brought by a company against the agreements of 15 December 2014 concluded by the Prime Minister with the Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME) relating to the future investment programme (action: "Demonstrators of (...)

In a judgment of 19 October 2016, the Court of Justice interpreted the Framework Directive on electronic communications to specify the conditions under which a Member State may merge national regulatory authorities (NRAs) in accordance with the principles of independence, impartiality and (...)

On 10 October 2016, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on the freedom of establishment of lawyers at the Council of State and the Court of Cassation, proposing the creation of four new offices by 2018. The opinion is issued pursuant to the "Macron Law" (Law No. 2015-990 of 6 August (...)

On 19 July 2016, the Court of Justice of the EU, meeting in its Grand Chamber formation, interpreted the Banking Communication adopted by the Commission in the wake of the banking crisis (Communication from the Commission on the application of State aid rules to State aid to banks in the (...)

On 13 July 2016, the Conseil d’État dismissed the appeals brought by Métropole Télévision and Paris Première against the CSA’s rejection of their application for approval to change the terms and conditions for financing the terrestrial television service. The application had been lodged (...)

On 13 July 2016, the Conseil d’État dismissed the appeal brought by two applicants against the decision of the CSA to approve the modification of the financing of LCI’s terrestrial television service. Unlike Paris Première, the CSA therefore authorised the switchover to free broadcasting of (...)

On 9 June 2016, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on the freedom of establishment of notaries and a proposal for a map of the location areas, with recommendations on the pace of the creation of new notary offices. Pursuant to Article 52 of Law No. 2015-990 of August 6, 2015 for (...)

On 20 May 2016, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on the draft order on the status of the Commissioner of Justice. The draft ordinance is based on Law No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 on growth, activity and equal economic opportunities (known as the "Macron Law"). By virtue of article (...)

On May 18, 2016, the Conseil d’État dismissed the action for annulment On May 18, 2016, the Conseil d’État dismissed the action for annulment brought by the company Direct Energie against the decree of October 28, 2014 amending decree no. 2009-975 of August 12, 2009 relating to regulated (...)

Decree and decisions concerning tariffs of regulated legal professions were published. They reflect the will of the Macron law to introduce more competition in the regulated professions. The regulatory framework on tariffs for regulated legal professions was published in the Official Journal (...)

In a ruling dated 6 April 2016, the Council of State provides interesting clarifications on the proof of failure to meet financial obligations. In this case, the AMF Enforcement Committee imposed a financial penalty on a bank manager on the grounds that he had communicated "inside information" (...)

In a judgment dated 30 March 2016, the Conseil d’État dismissed the action brought by two federations to annul the decree setting the composition of the regional consultative commissions which advise the regional prefects on the issue, renewal and withdrawal of the entertainment entrepreneur’s (...)

In a ruling dated 24 March 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the Enforcement Committee of the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) may resume proceedings even though the sanction decision had been overturned for a breach of the principle of impartiality. In this case, two companies (...)

In a ruling dated March 21, 2016, the Conseil d’État, in its capacity as a General Meeting, reviewed the legality of a soft law instrument enacted by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF). In this case, a company had brought an action for abuse of power against press releases published by (...)

In a judgment of 10 March 2016, the EU Court of Justice clarified that banks may adopt vigilance measures to combat money laundering, in accordance with the provisions of two directives. On the one hand, Directive 2005/60/EC of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial (...)

On 26 February 2016, the Decree on the establishment of the settlement card for regulated legal professions was adopted. It thus implements Article 52 of Law No. 2015-990 of 6 August 2015 for growth, activity and equal economic opportunities (the so-called Macron Law). In order to optimize the (...)

In 2011, Hungary adopted new regulations on meal, leisure and holiday vouchers. Taking the view that those rules establish a monopoly for the benefit of a body in breach of Union law, the European Commission brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations. The legislation at issue confers (...)

In a judgment dated February 18, 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal brought by Celtipharm against the decision of the French Competition Authority of October 10, 2014 (J.-Ph. Kovar, "L’Autorité de la concurrence se déclare incompétent pour connaître de décisions de refus (...)

On 4 February 2016, the Senate adopted in first reading two bills relating to the general status of independent administrative authorities (IAA) and independent public authorities (API). These two proposals had been tabled by three senators on 7 December 2015 with a view to drawing conclusions (...)

Behind the technical nature of this initiative lies in fact one of the concrete achievements of the Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, which is one of the ten political priorities of the Juncker Commission (see Commission Communication of 6 May 2015: COM(2015) 192 final; see also the (...)

On 16 November 2015, the Dispute Tribunal decided that the administrative judge is competent to hear disputes relating to press releases published by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) for the attention of investors and savers. It ruled on a referral from the Conseil d’État, which (...)

The file assesses the impact of the Macron law on competition law related issues. More particularly, five articles examine the legislator’s will to introduce changes with respect to the role of the Competition Authority. Two articles analyze the changes brought by the Law to competition (...)

In 2000, the Bulgarian government decided by decree to pay retirement pensions by postal transfer. It entrusted this task to Balgarski poshti, the only commercial company wholly owned by the State and entitled to provide the universal postal service, including postal transfers. Since 2009, (...)

The public establishment Voies navigables de France (VNF) had issued enforceable titles against Climespace corresponding to the payment of the tax on water intake structure holders, provided for in Article 124 of the Finance Act of December 29, 1990 for 1991, for the years 2005 to 2009. The (...)

The Conseil d’État has referred a question to the Court of Justice of the EU for a preliminary ruling on whether Articles 34 and 36 TFEU must be interpreted as precluding the capacity mechanism in the electricity sector. In this case, the National Association of Energy Retail Operators (...)

On 9 October 2015, the Council of State ruled on the competence of the Electricity Regulatory Commission to set the rules of the procedures for processing applications for connection to the public electricity distribution networks. The Union nationale des entreprises d’électricité et de gaz (...)

On 22 September 2015, the Constitutional Council declared Article L. 3124-13, 1st paragraph, of the Transport Code to be in conformity with the Constitution. The Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation (Cass. com, 23 June 2015, ruling no. 699) had referred a priority constitutionality (...)

On 21 September 2015, the Council of State presented its annual study on the economic action of public authorities. What can public bodies do in economic matters? More would be tempted to respond to the defeatists who see in the globalised market economy, of which the European Union would be (...)

On 21 September 2015, the Council of State presented its annual report on the economic action of public authorities. Far from dissolving in the market economy, the action of public authorities "has not retreated from the economic sphere; on the contrary, it has redeployed there along new paths (...)

In two rulings of 17 June 2015, LCI (No. 384826) and Paris Première (No. 385474), the Conseil d’État made a bold reading of the fourth paragraph of Article 42-3 of Act 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 on freedom of communication, as amended by Article 27 of Act 2013-1028 of 15 November 2013 on the (...)

On 16 June 2015 the Court of Justice declared the ECB’s Outright Monetary Transactions (OMT) programme valid. It should be recalled that the MTO programme was announced by the ECB in the summer of 2012 in order to address the sovereign debt crisis affecting the euro area, in particular Spain (...)

The Court of Justice has again ruled, in its Grand Chamber formation, on the nature of the activity of the ’Sociétés Organismes d’Attestation’ (SOA) which, in Italy, are the bodies responsible for verifying and certifying compliance with the conditions required by law by undertakings carrying (...)

On 22 May 2015, the Constitutional Council handed down a long-awaited QPC decision particularly for the sector of private passenger transport for reward. Just a few months after the decision No. 2014-422 QPC of 17 October 2014In the case of the VTC, it was once again up to the constitutional (...)

The Council of State applied the Altmark decision in two cases involving public health establishments (Commission Decision 2012/21/EU of 20 Dec. 2011 on the application of Article 106(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to State aid in the form of public service (...)

In April 2015, the European Commission published a working document on the review of financial stability and financial market integration in the European Union. Since 2004, it has produced an annual study on the financial system in the single market. This year, for the first time, the study (...)

Senate, March 25, 2015, Growth, Activity and Equal Opportunity Bill A major reform of the regulated legal professions is underway. On 19 February 2015, the National Assembly adopted, in first reading, the Growth, Activity and Equal Opportunities Bill (known as the "Macron" Act), Chapter III (...)

Cons. const. 18 March 2015, Mr. John L., No. 2014-453/454 QPC and 2015-462 QPC On 18 March 2015, the Constitutional Council issued a decision that determines the conditions under which the same facts may be the subject of criminal proceedings by the judicial judge and administrative (...)

CE, 27 Feb. 2015, Collectif des SEL de pharmaciens, n° 369949, ECLI:FR:CESSR:2015:369949.20150227 In the legally and politically sensitive context that characterizes the debate on the Growth and Activity Bill, the judgment of the Council of State, mentioned in the tables of the Lebon (...)

NA, Feb. 19, 2015, Growth and Activity Bill Article 10 of the Growth, Activity and Equal Opportunity Bill (known as the "Macron" Act) was amended on first reading, giving the Competition Authority new powers in the field of commercial town planning. No sooner had the provision been adopted (...)

Constant Court of Belgium, 5 February 2015, No. 15/2015 On 5 February 2015, the Constitutional Court of Belgium referred a question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on the compatibility with Union law of the guarantee scheme granted to shares in the capital of authorised (...)

The first session of this conference leads to highlight the constitutional basis of competition law in the internal law (Pr. Martucci), using a comparative method (Pr. Della Cananea) and through the lens of the reports on legal integration between the laws of the European Union and of its (...)

Concordant Aut. conc. Opinion No. 15-A-02 of 9 January 2015 on competition issues concerning certain regulated legal professions At the request of the Minister of the Economy, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on 9 January 2015 on competition issues concerning certain regulated (...)

By judgment of 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice considers that Articles 49 TFEU and 56 TFEU do not preclude the application of national rules excluding participation in a tendering procedure by an economic operator who has committed an infringement of competition law. In the present (...)

In a judgment of 11 December 2014, the Court of Justice outlines the "unique characteristics" of charities in the legal order of the Union (Opinion of the Advocate General, paragraph 2). More specifically, it clarifies the conditions under which a social service can be directly attributed, (...)

In a letter dated 29 January 1992, the Secretary-General of the Banking Commission had, pursuant to Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, reported to the public prosecutor facts revealed by an investigation carried out on behalf of this administrative authority. The applicant, the (...)

Cons. const., Dec. 5, 2014, SELAS, Decision No. 2014-434 QPC The Constitutional Council has been seized by the Council of State with a priority constitutionality question on the pricing of medical biology acts. At issue was the constitutionality of the provisions of article L. 6211-21 of the (...)

The judgment of 21 November 2014 concerned the decision by which ACPR initiated a procedure for the automatic transfer of the portfolio of contracts, bulletins or memberships against Société Mutuelle des Transports Assurances. The latter challenged this decision before the Conseil d’État, (...)

Some provisions of the bill for growth and activity, known as the Macron Law, named after the current Minister of the Economy (Communication to the Council of Ministers of 15 October 2014: http://www.gouvernement.fr/conseil-des-ministres/2014-10-15/le-projet-de-loi-pour-l-activite) should be (...)

In the Apollonia case, a victims’ association asked the Prudential Control and Resolutions Authority to communicate the decision by which that authority referred to the public prosecutor’s office the failings of the institutions involved in the real estate scandal. It also asked the ACPR to (...)

The National Association of Energy Retail Operators (ANODE), which is usually a petitioner in energy matters, has filed a request for suspension of the execution of the Order of 28 July 2014 amending the Order of 26 July 2013 on regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity, on the basis of (...)

In 2003, the Italian Ministry of the Interior concluded an agreement with Telecom Italy for the management and development of telecommunications services. As this agreement expires, in December 2011, the Italian Ministry of the Interior designated Telecom Italy as its supplier and technology (...)

The case law of the Court of Justice on State regulations is regularly applied and rarely leads to a finding by the court that provisions of national law are incompatible with Article 101 TFEU, read in conjunction with Article 4(3) TEU. The judgment of 4 September 2014 will therefore be all (...)

The judgment of the Court of First Instance of 16 July 2014 raises a number of interesting questions in the field of State aid. Therefore, in this column, we will only deal with Article 106(2) TFEU. For the rest, the judgment is dealt with in parallel in the State aid column of this issue. (...)

On 15 July 2014, the Union legislator adopted the Regulation laying down uniform rules and procedures for the resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms under a single resolution mechanism and a single bank resolution fund. Following the establishment of the Single (...)

Trib.UE, 11 July 2014, Telefónica de España and Telefónica Móviles España v Commission, Case T-151/11, ECLI:EU:T:2014:631 and DTS Distribuidora de Televisión Digital v Commission, Case T-533/10, ECLI:EU:T:2014:629 In the series on the financing of public service broadcasting, two judgments (...)

Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down uniform rules and procedures for the resolution of credit institutions and certain investment firms under a single resolution mechanism and a single bank resolution fund and amending Regulation (EU) No (...)

Would not impartiality become the contentious gimmick invoked in support of any challenge to a decision adopted by a regulatory authority? It must be said that the applicants find the priority issue of constitutionality a particularly attractive procedural ground. However, it is still (...)

The compensation scheme for the discharge of public service obligations in respect of transport by rail, road and inland waterway is governed by Regulation (EEC) No 1191/69 (of the Council of 26 June 1969 on action by Member States concerning the obligations inherent in the concept of a public (...)

On 18 December 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its opinion on the accession of the Union to the European Convention on Human Rights (CJ, Plenary Assembly, 18 December 2014, Opinion 2/2013). It declared the draft accession agreement incompatible with Union law. This (...)

CJEU, 13 February 2014, Crono Service and Anitrav v Roma Capitale and Regione Lazio, cases C-419/12 and C-420/12. CJEU, 13 February 2014, Airport Shuttle Express and others, cases C-162/12 and C-163/12 In the war of taxis and VTC (passenger vehicle with driver), the Court of Justice will (...)

The French Constitutional Council adopted four decisions "QPC" (priority preliminary questions QPC) that specify under which conditions the power of sanction should be exercised in accordance with the principle of impartiality 1. The impartiality of regulatory authorities is certainly not an (...)

The judgment of 22 January 2014 is certainly an important judgment for Union law, certainly for regulatory law, resolutely. The Court of Justice, sitting as a Grand Chamber, dismissed the action for annulment brought by the United Kingdom against Article 28 of Regulation (EU) No 236/2012 of (...)

A new episode in the gas tariff schedule: the Council of State has, once again, cancelled the regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas set by two decrees dated 15 April 2013. The Council of State granted the application for annulment brought by the National Association of Energy Retail (...)

EC, 13 December 2013, No 342504 The requirements of a fair trial imply respect for the rights of the defence. Two cases have attracted attention. There is a judgment, unpublished in the ECR, in which the Conseil d’État applied Article 6 of the Convention to the Enforcement Committee of the (...)

The last quarter of 2013 was marked by a QPC decision dated December 13, 2013 (Decision No. 2013-359 QPC, Société Sud Radio Services and others) relating to the classic, but still open, question of the application of fair trial requirements to regulatory authorities. These requirements are at (...)

Having received a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Italian Council of State, the Court of Justice has once again ruled on the question of a compulsory national tariff system, but ’in a context which is, however, new’, as the Advocate General points out in the introduction to his (...)

On December 3, 2013, the Competition Authority published a press release in which it indicated that it had been asked for an opinion by the Finance Committee of the General Meeting pursuant to Article L. 462-1 of the French Commercial Code. The subject of this referral, the letter of which is (...)

On 27 November 2013, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on three draft decrees in the Council of State regulating the price of motor fuels and liquefied petroleum gas and the functioning of the wholesale market for these products in the French overseas departments (DOM). These (...)

An intriguing decision by the Enforcement Committee of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel on 25 November 2013 was noted, which we will analyse without going back over the fund. The Enforcement Committee considers that it is a court or tribunal within the meaning of Article 267 TFEU, so it can (...)

This work contains the papers of the Twelfth Conference on “Antitrust between EU Law and national law”, held in Treviso on May 19 and 20, 2016 under the patronage of the European Lawyers Union – Union des Avocats Européens (UAE), the Associazione Italiana per la Tutela della Concorrenza – the (...)

In a judgment of 22 October 2013, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice provided interesting clarifications on the reconciliation, in the energy sector, between the free movement of capital and the ban on privatisation. In the present case, the Dutch Act on Independent Network (...)

EC, 9 October 2013, No 359161 Two judgments in which the Conseil d’État applied Article 6 of the Convention to the Enforcement Committee of the Autorité des marchés financiers (EC, 29 October 2013, No. 356108; EC, 9 October 2013, No. 359161). The ruling of 29 October 2013, mentioned in the (...)

EC, 9 October 2013, No 359161 EC, 29 October 2013, No 356108 The case of Grande Stevens and Others v. Italy, on which the European Court of Human Rights ruled on 4 March 2014, is currently the subject of a request for referral to the Grand Chamber, a request which is a further illustration (...)

Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, OJEU No L 176 27 June 2013, p. 1. Council Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013 of 15 October (...)

By a decision dated 6 May 2013, the Competition Authority declares itself incompetent to rule on decisions adopted by the regulator of the press distribution sector. The decision clarifies not only the extent to which regulation is not an economic activity, but also the division of roles (...)

On 13 December 2012, the ECOFIN Council reached an agreement on the Banking Union project, which should come into being in 2013. The speed of the decision-making process is particularly remarkable, as it is explained by the need to strengthen financial stability in the euro area when the (...)

In a judgment dated 6 December 2012, referred to in the Lebon tables, the Conseil d’État recalled that the decision to withdraw a professional card for lack of good repute does not constitute a sanction. In this case, the AMF Board decided to withdraw the applicant’s investment services (...)

CJEU, 22 November 2012, Westbahn Management / ÖBB Infrastruktur, Case C-136/11 In a judgment of 22 November 2012, the Court of Justice clarified the information obligations of the railway infrastructure manager as defined in the railway package. A question has been referred to it for a (...)

By judgment of 25 October 2012, the EU Court of Justice finds that Portugal has failed to fulfil its obligations under directives in the railway package (amended Directives: Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community’s railways and Directive 2001/14/EC of (...)

The Conseil d’État refused to refer a priority constitutionality issue relating to the provisions of III of Article L. 621-15 and Article L. 621-30 of the Monetary and Financial Code to the Constitutional Council. The petitioners contested the fact that these provisions do not provide a person (...)

CJEU, 12.07.12, C-55/11, C-57/11 and C-58/11, Vodafone España SA Some Spanish municipalities have adopted tax orders subjecting operators to a tax whose chargeable event is the "private use" or "special exploitation" of the municipal public domain in order to provide supply services of (...)

In a ruling dated 4 July 2012, the Council of State clarified that shares held by public persons in companies fall within its private domain. As a result, the administrative court has no jurisdiction to hear decisions of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) concerning such shares. Since (...)

CE, 24 April 2012, Société Dubus, n° 332561 In a ruling dated 24 April 2012, the Conseil d’État once again ruled on the implementation by the Commission Bancaire, the successor to the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel, of its power to issue injunctions to adopt any measures aimed at restoring (...)

EC, 24 April 2012, Ms A... and Mr B..., No. 338786 EC, 22 May 2012, M. A..., No. 344589 In two rulings, the Conseil d’État confirmed that the AMF Appeals Commission may use the cluster method to establish evidence of a breach of the rules governing the holding and use of inside (...)

CE, 12 April 2012, Alsass, n° 335442 In a ruling of 12 April 2012, mentioned in the tables of the Lebon report, the Conseil d’État confirmed that emergency measures decided by the regulator because of an insurance company’s difficulties are not a disciplinary sanction. They are (...)

CE, 11 April 2012, Banque Populaire Côte d’Azur, No. 336839 The Conseil d’État overturned the Commission Bancaire’s decision to issue a reprimand and impose a financial penalty on a bank. The high administrative court had to draw the consequences of the QPC decision handed down by the (...)

CE, 5 March 2012, Crédit Immobilier de France Développement, No. 343412 In a ruling dated 5 March 2012, published in the Lebon report (Note Samin, Revue de Droit bancaire et financier No. 3, May 2012, comm. 73), the Conseil d’État once again ruled on the legality of the solvency ratios (...)

Aut. conc. opinion n° 12-A-02 of 17 January 2012 on a request for an opinion from the Senate Committee on the Economy, Sustainable Development and Town and Country Planning on the framework for action by local and regional authorities with regard to the deployment of very high-speed networks. (...)

The ultimate goal of competition law is to promote competition and, in most jurisdictions, to enhance consumer welfare. Competition policy may be set aside due to special and exceptional circumstances, such as a financial crisis that threatens the stability of an economy. It is therefore (...)

This book corresponds to the study commissioned by the European Commission from Hogan Lovells on the application of State aid law in the Member States. In 2005, the European Commission concluded a research contract with the law firm Lovells - now Hogan Lovells - on the implementation of (...)

Regardless of the legal system concerned, vertical restraints have always benefited from a special, preferential regime. The reasons for this preferential treatment are explained by the economic analysis which highlights the contribution of this type of restriction to the optimisation of (...)

This insightful and original book considers the evolution, aims and developments of EU antitrust policy, and focuses on the way in which the European Commission has sought to combat cartels. Lee McGowan expertly explores the European Commission’s cartel policy by examining competition policy (...)

Competition law is often presented as an economic policing right, whether it is a system of prior authorisation or a quasi-repressive regime. Between authorisation and sanction, the corrective dimension of this right is sometimes overlooked. While it has been noted over the last ten years or (...)

This book discusses the procedural rights enjoyed by those being investigated under Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty and of the Merger Control Regulation, and their right to challenge the Commission’s decision in the Community Courts. It further assesses how their rights to ‘due process’ in (...)

A priest qualified as a service provider, a work of art considered as a commodity, education exclusively described as a prerequisite for vocational training. These three qualifications of the Court of Justice of the European Communities, among several hundred others, characterise the concept (...)

This book, published on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Cahiers de droit européen, a journal created in Brussels in 1965, deals with "fundamental issues for the construction of Europe", as President José Manuel Barroso states in his preface. The debates on the scope of the (...)

At a time when the debate on economic patriotism and industrial champions is in full swing, the recently published proceedings of the symposium "Globalisation, Industrial Policy and Competition Law", organised on 11 October 2005 by the French Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (...)

Commitment is a key concept in law and economics, but the eyes are rarely crossed. For example, lawyers have always been familiar with the concept of a contract, while economists rarely take into account the legal dimension of a commitment. The first part of the book rather takes up the (...)

Why, to what extent and with what consequences should economic regulation be entrusted to bodies that are independent of politics? An inventory of the current situation in Europe was necessary to shed light on the nature and presuppositions of the assimilation often made between regulation as (...)

What is regulation in law? Is it an alternative to public service in a competitive world or does it contribute to the renewal of the concept of public service? This book attempts to answer these questions based on an analysis of comparative law. The result is that regulation is defined as a (...)

The purpose of this study, which has so far remained unique in its kind, is to analyse the relationship between social law and competition law, emphasising the need for consistency in the legal system. The subject has been highly topical in recent years. First of all in case law, since it was, (...)

In the enthusiasm for opening up to competition or in the firm desire to preserve the achievements of public service, it was somewhat forgotten that systems of economic regulation are not left to simple competition because they also involve risks. Current events are a stark reminder of this. (...)

Thesis defended at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 2004, the present work, published in Italian, is noteworthy in that the author favours an original approach to Community law on anti-competitive practices. Mr. Pace analyses the discipline from a somewhat new perspective as it is (...)

Regulatory agencies are now unavoidable figures in the Community institutional system and, paradoxically, have only been the subject of rare in-depth academic studies. It is therefore with great interest that we welcome the publication of the proceedings of a seminar held on the subject in (...)

Entire sectors of the economy are now governed by regulatory mechanisms that dominate banking, insurance, finance, telecommunications, energy and transport. Political and national power has given way to a more technocratic and legal power. Businesses have eyes only for the Regulatory Authority (...)

In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, Member States exercise powers to regulate liberalised markets, such as the energy and electronic communications sectors. The national dedicated bodies have organised themselves to cooperate with each other since they all had the same single (...)