François-Charles Laprévote

On April 28, 2022, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) unconditionally cleared the acquisition of home furnishing retailer Conforama by Mobilux, the parent company of competitor But Group. The FCA applied the failing firm defense for the first time. Background On July 8, 2019, Mobilux (...)

On March 23, 2022, the Commission adopted a Communication setting out a temporary framework for the implementation of State aid rules to support the economy following the conflict in Ukraine (the “Temporary Crisis Framework”), shortly after consulting with the Member States. The Temporary (...)

The European Commission (“EC”) recently published its first annual report on the new European cooperation mechanism regarding the screening of foreign direct investment (“FDI”) into the EU (the “Report”). The Report shows that four out of every five FDI filings screened at the EU level were (...)

On May 5, 2021, the European Commission (“EC”) proposed a new draft regulation that, if adopted, would introduce sweeping measures aimed at controlling the impact of foreign subsidies on the EU single market (“Proposed Regulation”). The Proposed Regulation reflects the EU’s policy priority to (...)

On January 28, the Commission extended and expanded for the fifth time the scope of the State aid Temporary Framework to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (the “TF”). Based on the January 28 amendment (the “Amendment”), all TF provisions, including recapitalization (...)

On October 13, the Commission extended and expanded for the fourth time the scope of the State aid Temporary Framework to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak (the “TF”).. Based on this amendment, all TF provisions are extended until June 30, 2021 while the section on (...)

On July 23, 2020, the French Government published a Decree and a Ministerial Order to temporarily reduce the threshold for review of nonEU/EEA investments in French listed companies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. As explained by the French Minister for the Economy, “[w]hile most (...)

On July 15, 2020, the European Union’s second- highest court, the General Court (the “Court”), annulled the 2016 decision of the European Commission (the “Commission”) ordering Ireland to recover €13 billion (€14.3 billion with interest) in back-taxes from Apple which the Commission considered (...)

On June 17, 2020, in response to calls from the European Council and certain Member States, the European Commission published a White Paper setting out its proposals for a comprehensive set of new tools to tackle the potentially competition-distorting effects of foreign subsidies on the (...)

The COVID-19 pandemic creates unprecedented issues for businesses and the global economy as a whole. The antitrust community is at the early stages of reacting to the situation: agency staff are working hard to keep the wheels on their existing workload, while taking steps to alleviate immediate supply and liquidity issues; meanwhile, the antitrust bar has started to debate with characteristic alacrity the appropriate short, medium, and even long-term responses to the challenges raised by the outbreak.

In a March 25, 2020 communication, the European Commission (“EC”) issued guidance on the screening of foreign direct investments (“FDI”) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The communication identifies an increased risk of attempts by non-EU acquirers to obtain control over suppliers of (...)

On March 19, the Commission adopted a communication (the “Temporary Framework”) setting out a temporary framework for the implementation of less stringent State aid rules in order to support the economy in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. Given the limited size of the EU budget, most of (...)

Recognizing the serious economic consequences that the COVID-19 crisis may create, on March 12 the Commission approved within 24 hours of notification a COVID-19 related measure in Denmark aimed at compensating event organizers for losses caused by cancellations. Following this initial ad hoc (...)

On October 11, 2020, the EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation—which establishes a European framework for the screening of foreign investments into the European Union— entered into force. The legislation attempts to address growing concerns (compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic) regarding (...)

On October 11, 2020, the EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation—which establishes a European framework for the screening of foreign investments into the European Union—entered into force. The legislation attempts to address growing concerns (compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic) regarding (...)

(“CJEU”) set aside General Court’s 2014 Intel judgment, upholding a European Commission (the “Commission”) decision fining Intel €1.06 billion for abuse of dominance through exclusivity rebates . The CJEU held that the General Court had erred in failing to examine all of Intel’s arguments (...)

On May 18, 2017, the European Commission (the “Commission”) fined Facebook €110 million for providing incorrect or misleading information during its 2014 investigation of its acquisition of WhatsApp The magnitude of the fine dwarfs the few penalties the Commission has imposed in the past for (...)

I. Introduction A. The "Temporary" state aid framework In 2008-2009, the Commission introduced a new, supposedly temporary State aid framework (the “Temporary Framework”) composed of several guidelines and based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (...)