CNRS (Valbonne)

Frédéric Marty

CNRS (Valbonne)
CNRS Fellow

Frédéric Marty is a CNRS senior research fellow. He is also affiliate researcher of the French Economic Observatory (OFCE - Sciences Po. Paris), member of the EPPP Research Group of the Sorbonne Graduate Business School (IAE Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne), and member of the College of the French Competition Authority (regulated professions department). He graduated in economics and management from the Ecole Normale Supérieure of Cachan (Ph.D. in economics). Since 2003 he has been a member of the Group of Research in Law, Economics and Management (GREDEG) a join laboratory of the CNRS and of the Université Côte d’Azur. His publications and teachings deal with law and economics with a focus on procurement and competition policy. He also published a book on law and economics with Thierry Kirat (Economie du Droit et de la Réglementation, Gualino, 2007). His research fields encompass unilateral abuses of dominance, state aids’ regulation, and the history of competitions policies.

Linked authors

CNRS (Paris)
CNRS (Paris)
CNRS
Aravocat (Paris)
University Paris-Panthéon-Assas

Videos

Frédéric Marty (CNRS / Université de Nice Sophia - Antipolis) [English]
Frédéric Marty 15 May 2018 Brussels
Frédéric Marty (CNRS / Université de Nice Sophia - Antipolis)
Frédéric Marty 15 May 2018 Brussels

Articles

102526 Review

Victoria Godefrood-Berra, Maxime Landreau, Pascal Belmin, Vincent Bridoux, Lise Damelet, Frédéric Marty "Foreign Subsidies" Regulation: Explanation and discussion for companies and legal practitioners for "turnkey" application

617

Subsidies granted by third countries to undertakings engaging in an economic activity in the internal market can distort competition. State aid measures granted by EU Member States are subject to the strict rules of State aid control and are prohibited by default. Foreign subsidies used to (...)

Marie Cartapanis, Frédéric Marty Relevant market: The General Court of the European Union upholds the Commission’s decision imposing a record fine on the dominant operator for strengthening its dominant position in the markets for general internet search services and intelligent mobile operating systems (Google / Android)

855

In a judgment of September 22, 2022, the General Court of the European Union largely confirmed the Commission’s decision that Google had imposed illegal restrictions on Android mobile device manufacturers and mobile network operators in order to consolidate the dominant position of its search (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitment procedure: The French Competition Authority makes binding by decision the commitments proposed by a major platform leading to the compliance of its practices with the law protecting related rights (Google)

197

The Authority’s decision to make Google’ s commitments binding is part of the debate on the economic balance of relations between the major platforms, which act as information aggregators or entry points for online information searches, and the print media. The capacity of the former to (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitment: The French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence) makes binding, by way of a decision, the voluntary commitments proposed by a dominant platform in the social networking sector to address its competition concerns in the online advertising market (Meta)

217

In its decision No. 22-D-12 of June 26, 2022, the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) made binding the commitments proposed by Meta (Facebook) to put an end to the procedure initiated in September 2019 by a company active in the market for advertising intermediation (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of foreclosure: The General Court of the European Union annuls a decision of the European Commission which had sanctioned the dominant operator on the LTE chipset market for an abuse of foreclosure based on exclusivity payments, on the basis of a failure to respect the rights of defence, errors of law and manifest errors of assessment of economic circumstances (Qualcomm)

278

The Court’s decision in Qualcomm is a perfect continuation of its previous decision in Intel, which we commented on in this column in volume 2022-2 of Concurrences. In both cases, the Court of First Instance annulled decisions through which the Commission had sanctioned - to the tune of one (...)

Frédéric Marty Chroniques (décalées) d’un économiste, COMBE Emmanuel

698

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 (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The General Court of the European Union dismisses an action against a decision of the European Commission making binding commitments offered by a Russian natural gas exporter (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo)

159

In its judgment in Case T-616/18, delivered on February 2, 2022, the Court of First Instance dismissed an action brought by a gas operator (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo - the parent company of the PGNiG group) against a Commission decision rendering binding commitments proposed by (...)

Frédéric Marty Loyalty rebates: The General Court of the European Union annuls the European Commission’s decision of May 2009 on the anti-competitive nature of loyalty rebates in the field of microprocessors on the basis of errors in the demonstration of their capacity to produce an anti-competitive foreclosure effect (Intel)

687

The Intel case is undoubtedly one of the great sagas of competition law: first, by its importance in the jurisprudence (in 2009 it involved a record fine for an abuse of dominant position (Eur. Comm, Intel case, COMP/C-3/37.990), then by its duration (the initial complaint dates back to 2000), (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of dominance: The General Court of the European Union confirms the decision of the European Commission in the case of abuse of dominant position on the market for online price comparison services (Google Shopping)

746

In a judgment dated November 10, 2021, the General Court confirms the Commission’s decision in the Google Shopping case, issued in June 2017. This judgment is of particular importance for the competition policy implemented by the European authorities vis-à-vis the major digital ecosystems. (...)

Benoit Blottin, Frédéric Marty, Guillaume Dezobry, Alexandre Eberhardt-Le Prévost, Christine Le Bihan-Graf, Raphaël Vuitton, Francesco Martucci, Laure Rosenblieh, Marie Lamoureux Competitive issues in the energy sector

2383

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 (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission makes binding commitments proposed by the Greek Government to correct the advantage enjoyed by the electricity incumbent due to its exclusive access to lignite mines (PPC)

193

The European Commission, by making the commitments proposed by the Hellenic Republic binding, is hopefully putting an end to the odyssey of the competition dispute related to lignite-based electricity production. The latter started more than thirteen years ago, if not almost twenty if one (...)

Emmanuelle Claudel, Nicolas Ferrier, Patrice Bougette, Frédéric Marty, Florence Ninane, Noemie Bomble, Irène Luc, Andreas Mundt, Olivier Guersent, Marion Carbo, Charlotte Colin-Dubuisson, Sima Ostrovsky, David-Julien dos Santos Goncalves Perspectives on the proposed reform of the Vertical Restraints Regulation and its Guidelines

3655

The On-Topic aims to present a range of views on the European Commission’s proposed reform of the Vertical Restraints Regulation and its Guidelines. The contributors are representatives of the European Commission and competition authorities, practitioners, legal researchers and economists. (...)

Frédéric Marty Predatory prices: The French Competition Authority rejects for lack of evidence a referral filed by a company active in the business accommodation sector alleging price foreclosure linked to the activity of a chamber of commerce in this market (Actiburo)

173

The French Competition Authority rejects, for lack of evidence, a complaint lodged by a firm active in the business accommodation and domiciliation market against the Rouen Métropole Chamber of Commerce and Industry. According to the complainant, the CCI had set abusively low or predatory (...)

Frédéric Marty Self-preference: The French Competition Authority validates a settlement procedure to put an end to self-referencing practices implemented by a dominant operator on the online display advertising market (Google / News Corp Inc / Figaro / Rossel)

549

The proceedings opened in 2019 against Google for abuse of dominance practices in the display-related online advertising market came to an end with a settlement decision on June 7, 2021. The complaints filed by news publishers related to self-preference practices. These practices took place on (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The Court of Justice of the European Union dismisses a telecommunication company’s appeal against the judgment of the General Court of the European Union confirming the decision of the European Commission establishing its liability as parent company in a margin squeeze case implemented by its subsidiary (Deutsche Telekom)

335

In this judgment delivered in parallel with the judgment in the Slovak Telekom case, the Court of Justice rejects the various pleas put forward by Deutsche Telekom, the parent company of the Slovak incumbent, in its appeal against the judgment of the General Court of 13 December 2018 (Deutsche (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The Court of Justice of the European Union dismisses the appeal brought by the Slovak incumbent telecommunications operator against a judgment of the General Court of the European Union confirming a decision of the European Commission fining it for a margin squeeze strategy (Slovak Telekom)

311

Simultaneously with the examination of Deutsche Telekom ’s appeal against the judgment of the General Court of 13 December 2018, which had upheld the European Commission’s decision of 15 October 2014, the Court of Justice is ruling on the appeal filed by Slovak Telekom. It will be recalled (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authority rejects a referral relating to alleged discriminatory practices carried out by a vertically integrated operator on the karaoke market for lack of evidence (Singing Studio / Karafun)

177

The French Competition Authority rejects a referral on the merits from a karaoke hall operator who believes that he is the victim of an abuse of a dominant position by a vertically integrated competitor. The abuse was allegedly linked to a change in the conditions of access to the videos (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authority rejects a request for interim measures in the online advertising sector but continues its investigation on the merits in order to ensure that the tracking consent mechanisms introduced by the structuring platform do not lead to self-preference (Interactive Advertising Bureau France, Mobile Marketing Association France, Union des Entreprises de Conseil et Achat Media et Syndicat des Régies Internet)

707

Associations of firms active in the mobile application installation advertising sector on iOS have referred the matter to the French Competition Authority for alleged abuse of dominant position byApple. These practices would result in the imposition of unfair trading conditions around the (...)

Frédéric Marty Jurisdiction: The Court of Justice of the European Union confirms the rules governing the relinquishment of jurisdiction by national courts in favour of the European Commission as regards the application of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU and the application of the ne bis in idem rule (Slovak Telekom / Protimonopolnỳ úrad Slovenskej republiky)

232

The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic referred to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling a case brought by the competition authority against the incumbent telecommunications operator. Those proceedings were initiated on the basis of a margin squeeze strategy on the internet access (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of exploitation: The Court of Justice of the European Union specifies, in a preliminary ruling, the conditions for the admission of royalty scales applied by copyright collecting societies (SABAM)

292

The scales of royalties applied by copyright collecting societies have already given rise to references for preliminary rulings before the Court of Justice on the basis of possible abuses of exploitation under Article 102 of the Treaty, in so far as they have de facto monopolies on the markets (...)

Frédéric Marty Barriers to entry: The General Court of the European Union upholds a decision of the European Commission in the case of the dismantling of a section of railway track in Lithuania to prevent the entry of a competitor (Lietuvos geležinkeliai)

237

The Court of First Instance dismisses an action brought by the Lithuanian incumbent rail operator against a Commission decision of 2 October 2017 (case AT.39813 Baltic Rail), which had sanctioned him for dismantling infrastructure between Lithuania and Latvia that obstructed a contract between (...)

Marie Cartapanis, Frédéric Marty Antitrust : The Subcommittee on Antitrust of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee releases its report on its investigation of competition in digital markets and lays out prospects for radical changes in U.S. competition policy

251

The report prepared by the Antitrust Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Law Committee was made public in October 2020 and appears dated in view of the dramatic changes in the competitive environment in the US in the autumn of 2020. This is not only related to the change of (...)

Frédéric Marty Exploitative abuse: The European Commission initiates a market test of commitments proposed by a pharmaceutical company to address its competition concerns about possible excessive prices for anti-cancer drugs (Aspen)

338

The Commission is launching a market test to gather the views of interested parties onAspen ’s proposed commitments to address competition concerns relating to its pricing practices on a number of cancer drugs. Pending a comment on the substance of the case - the Commission is only at the (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The European Free Trade Association’s Surveillance Authority sanctions the incumbent operator in the Norwegian telecommunications sector for a strategy of price squeeze in the field of stand-alone mobile broadband services (Telenor)

195

On 29 June 2020, the EFTA Surveillance Authority fined the Norwegian telecoms incumbent operator almost € 112 million for implementing a margin squeeze strategy against its competitors in the downstream market for stand-alone broadband services. Telenor is vertically integrated and as such (...)

Marie Cartapanis, Frédéric Marty Digital platforms: The European Commission launches two preliminary impact studies on the competitive and regulatory framework for electronic intermediation platforms

369

The competitive treatment of digital platforms is the subject of much reflection not only in the economic literature but also in the sphere of public policy. For example, on 1 July 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed to the Government to implement a specific (...)

Marie Cartapanis, Frédéric Marty Critical infrastructures: The Commissioner for Competition clarifies, in response to a parliamentary question, the implementation conditions of the essential facilities doctrine to online platforms

448

The theory of critical infrastructure, which stems from the decision-making practice of the American Supreme Court with the Terminal Railroad Association decision of 1912 (United States v. Terminal Railroad Ass’n, 224 U.S. 383 (1912)), has been adopted by European case law, even though the (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission makes legally binding commitments taken by the Romanian incumbent operator of gas transport to facilitate natural gas exports (Transgaz)

163

The European Commission has taken a decision making binding the commitments offered by the Romanian natural gas transmission system operator. The commitments will lead the Romanian natural gas transmission system operator to increase its export capacity to Hungary and Bulgaria and to ensure (...)

Paul Belleflamme, Francisco Costa Cabral, Tim Cowen, Daniel Fasquelle, Paula Forteza, Inge Graef, Max Huffman, Frédéric Marty, Jacques Moscianese, Gabriella Muscolo, Martin Peitz, Sebastien Soriano, Thierry Warin, Ramsi Woodcock Digital & competition

4276

This series of articles highlights the existing debate about the role of competition policy in the digital economy. Each contribution addresses the subject from a different perspective. The first two discuss non-price strategies practiced by monopoly digital platforms and remedies that can be (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authorities confirms the articulation between mergers and acquisitions control and the sanction of anticompetitive practices (Towercast)

294

By a decision of 16 January 2020, the Competition Authority decided that there was no need to continue proceedings initiated by a referral based on an alleged abuse of a dominant position constituted by a concentration on the terrestrial broadcasting market. The Authority’s decision is linked (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The Paris Court of Appeal confirms for a large part interim measures imposed by the French Competition Authority in a case related to the suspension of an online directory enquiry service operator’s account for a search-related advertising service (Google / Amadeus)

282

The Paris Court of Appeal dismisses - except on a relatively minor point - Google’s appeal against the French Competition Authority’s decision 19-MC-01.which had given rise - pending a decision on the merits - to a request for provisional measures by Amadeus. This decision, commented on in (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusivity clause: The European Commission fines the dominant operator on the online advertising and search markets for an abuse of dominant position for including anticompetitive clauses in its contracts (Google AdSense)

953

Third decision in three years in the Google Search case (Case 39740) which was initially promised in a commitment decision and which ultimately resulted in three record fines for abuses of dominant position. The Shopping decision in June 2017 resulted in a fine of €2.42 billion, the Android (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authority rejects, for lack of evidence, a referral from a software company considering that it has been improperly excluded from an online flight tickets booking platform developed by a third-party publisher (Optionizr / Amadeus)

272

Although this is a decision by which the Authority rejects a referral and a request for interim measures for lack of evidence, the case in question is nevertheless interesting in terms of industrial economics, in particular in that it sheds light on the competitive issues involved in the (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authority grants interim measures in favour of a website publisher for a potential abusive suspension of its account in the online advertising market related to search (Amadeus / Google)

333

This is a decision ordering protective measures in favour of a publisher of websites offering paid telephone information following the suspension of its Google AdWords accounts, which has been denounced as abusive. Beyond its substantive interest, this decision sheds a particularly instructive (...)

Frédéric Marty Price-based exclusionary conduct: The Paris Court of Appeal closes the freight case by upholding the essential part of the decision of the French Competition Authority regarding the characterisation of the exclusionary strategy and the calculation of the amount of the fine (SNCF)

392

The SNCF freight case, which gave rise to a decision by the Authority on 18 December 2012 (Decision No 12-D-25A first appeal before the Paris Court of Appeal had been lodged against the decision of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities of 16 January 2017, in which it had (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of economic dependence: The French Competition Authority rejects, for lack of evidence, a complaint from franchised undertakings in the pizza sales sector claiming to be victims of an abuse of economic dependence (Take-away and home delivery of pizzas)

303

Undertakings active in the take-away and pizza delivery sector refer to the Authority with regard to the activities of two franchise networks which they claim constitute a cartel and an abuse of economic dependency. We will deal here only with the latter aspect and will deal with the former (...)

Frédéric Marty Cross subsidies: The French Competition Authority rejects a claim from management software editors specialised in the agricultural sector for an exclusionary abuse implemented in this field by the chambers of agriculture (The publishing and marketing sector of IT management solutions developed for the agricultural profession)

261

The Authority rejects, for lack of evidence, a referral from an association of publishers of software for the agricultural sector, concerning an alleged abuse of eviction from the Chambers of Agriculture in the context of their remit to ’advise and assist farmers’. As part of their task of (...)

Frédéric Marty Electricity: The Paris Court of Appeal confirms the 25% fine aggravation imposed on the incumbent operator on the energy market in the photovoltaic case as a result of the repetition of practices (EDF)

305

The decision of the Court of Appeal confirms the 25% increase in the financial penalty coefficient that had been retained by the French Competition Authority in its decision of December 17, 2013, which had sanctioned EDF for an abuse of eviction in the market for services to private (...)

Frédéric Marty Online advertising: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim against the dominant operator of the online advertising market due to lack of evidence (Google / Navx)

279

The Competition Authority rejected, for lack of evidence, the referral of a company specialising in online intermediation for the creation of websites for professionals against Google for alleged eviction abuses. This case is less interesting on the merits than the analysis of the functioning (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuses: The European Commission fines the dominant operator on the market of smart mobile operating systems available for licence €4.34 billion for exclusionary abuse (Google)

573

The European Commission’s press release, issued on 18 July, is the only document in our possession. The Commission announced on 30 July 2018 that it is working towards a rapid publication of the full text of the decision containing no confidential information. This is therefore only a (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusivity payments: The European Commission publishes its decision on the practices implemented by the dominant operator on the market for open licensable smart mobile operating systems (Google Android)

311

The Google Android decision delivered on 18 July 2018 was finally published on DG Competition’s website on 20 September 2019 in a non-confidential version. The first elements of the decision have been commented in this column in the 4-2018 issue.. This note therefore does not return to the (...)

Frédéric Marty Discriminatory practices: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim related to alleged discriminatory practices undertaken by the French incumbent in the photovoltaic electricity sector (Photovoltaic electricity)

234

The decision handed down on 4 July last concerns a case initiated by a referral of 21 June 2012 which had already given rise to a decision on a request for provisional measures (Dec. No. 13-D-04 of 14 Feb. 2013).) and a first decision on the merits concerning one of the aspects of the case (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary prices: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim related to exclusionary prices strategies in the sector of maritime shipping services (Maritime shuttle services to the Yeu island)

228

The decision handed down on 31 May 2018 by the Competition Authority has at least two striking features: the first is to present for the first time in many years valuations in francs and the second, which explains the first, is to bring to a close the saga of the stars from Vendée, the first (...)

Frédéric Marty Effects based approach: The Court of Justice of the European Union confirms in a preliminary ruling its effects-based approach in her assessment of discriminatory prices practices (MEO – Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia / Autoridade da Concorrência)

604

The Court of Justice, in a judgment on a reference for a preliminary ruling, further consolidates the effects-based approach to the implementation of Article 102 of the Treaty and, at the same time, states that the implementation of tariff discrimination by a dominant operator cannot be (...)

Frédéric Marty Tying: The French Senate proposes an amendment related to tying strategies from mobile devices to apps which will ultimately not be inserted within the law related to the protection of personal data (Law proposal related to the protection of personal data)

187

The aim here is to consider from the perspective of sanctioning unilateral practices the parliamentary discussion prior to the promulgation of Law No. 2018-493 of 20 June 2018 on data protection. A senatorial amendment, which was not adopted by the National Assembly, may be interesting to (...)

Frédéric Marty Discrimination: The European Commission dismisses a claim against the dominant operator of the online advertising market because of the lack of evidence (Interactive Lab)

150

On 20 July 2018, the Competition Authority rejected, for lack of evidence, a referral lodged by a website publisher, Interactive Lab, against exclusionary practices allegedly implemented by Google at its expense via its AdWords service (Aut. conc., dec. n°18-D-13 of 20 July 2018 relating to (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuses: The Paris Court of First Instance opens a right to obtain damages for a new entrant in the gaming and gambling industry on the basis of an incumbent’s exclusionary abuse (PMU)

2303

The judgment handed down on 22 February 2018 by the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris in a complaint by the Maltese company Betclic against the PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain economic interest grouping) is of major interest both in terms of discussing the economic damage that can result from (...)

Frédéric Marty Calculation of the fine: The Advocate general M. Wathelet advocates for the implementation of an effects-based approach in the judicial control of the European Commission’s fine setting process (Orange Polska)

267

The conclusions of Advocate General Melchior Wathelet in the Orange Polska case (Case C-123/16 P) are particularly important in that they could, if fully followed by the Court, enshrine the effects-based approach by extending the reasoning followed by the Court in the Intel judgment of 6 (...)

Frédéric Marty Essential facility: The European Commission fines incumbent Lithuanian Railways operator which practiced an exclusionary abuse by dismantling an essential facility (Lithuanian Railways - Baltic Rail)

331

The fine of €27 million imposed on Lithuanian Railways is, as the Commissioner responsible for competition policy said, an abuse of foreclosure in a form unprecedented in the history of European competition law. It is a prima facie case of naked exclusion, i.e. a market practice for which no (...)

Frédéric Marty Anticompetitive leverage: The French Supreme Court partially cancels a decision of the Paris appeal court that had reduced the fine imposed to the French electricity sector incumbent for an anticompetitive strategy based on a leverage towards the market of photovoltaic electricity generation (EDF)

256

The Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation ruled on two appeals, which it joined, lodged against a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal dated 21 May 2015 concerning a decision of the Competition Authority of 17 December 2013 relating to practices implemented in the photovoltaic (...)

Frédéric Marty Excessive prices: The Court of Justice of the European Union rules in a preliminary ruling related to the notion of excessive prices (Autortiesību un komunicēšanās konsultāciju aģentūra / Latvijas Autoru apvienība c/ Konkurences padome)

606

The judgment of the Court of Justice of 14 September 2017 in the case Autortiesību un komunicēšanās konsultāciju konsultāciju aģentūra / Latvijas Autoru apvienība (Latvian Copyright Management Agency) v. Konkurences padome (Competition Council of Latvia) is particularly interesting in that it (...)

Frédéric Marty Market-based offers: The French Competition Authority makes bidding commitments offered by the Gas sector incumbent in order to address competitive concerns regarding market based offers (Engie)

184

The European Commission, following the energy sector inquiry conducted between 2005 and 2007, had initiated and then closed a number of competitive procedures through commitments. The Competition Authority did not make as systematic use of these procedures in the cases it had to deal with in (...)

Frédéric Marty Cross-promotions: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim related to cross-promotions among broadcasting companies that belong to the same group and related to refusal to sell TV advert slots (publicité télévisuelle)

256

In connection with the acquisition of certain free digital terrestrial television channels, the TF1 Group made a number of commitments to prevent possible distortions of competition (decision of the French Competition Authority No. 10-DCC-11 of January 26, 2011). These commitments notably (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The European Commission fines the dominant operator of online research market for abusing dominance by giving illegal advantage to own comparison shopping service (Google Shopping)

466

It will be appropriate to come back in a future issue of Concurrences on the European Commission’s decision in the Google Shopping case. The text of this decision of 27 June 2017 had not yet been published at the time of writing. It should only be noted that the Commission imposed a record (...)

Frédéric Marty Anticompetitive leverage: EU Commission sanctions the dominant operator of the online search market on the basis of an anticompetitive leverage strategy oriented toward the online price compactors market (Google Shopping)

1702

The Commission’s decision in the Google Shopping case was published on 27 June 2017, six months after the press release was issued. This decision was particularly awaited because of the amount of the fine imposed (€2.42 billion - pt. 754). It was also awaited in terms of the demonstration of (...)

Frédéric Marty Anticompetitive leverage strategy: The French Supreme Court rejects an appeal filed by a dominant operator in the market of medical data and confirms that a discriminatory refusal of access can be the basis of an exclusionary abuse on the connected market of client management software (Cegedim)

353

The Court of Cassation rejects an appeal filed by Cegedim against a September 24, 2015 decision of the Paris Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals had upheld Decision No. 14-D-06 of July 8, 2014 of the French Competition Authority. which had imposed a financial penalty of EUR 5.68 million on (...)

Frédéric Marty Incumbent operator: The French Competition Authority imposes a € 100 million fine against the French gas incumbent in the framework of a settlement decision related to exclusionary practices based on leveraged strategy using tangible and intangible assets from its activities under exclusive rights and on denigration practices (ENGIE)

515

The Competition Authority issued a long-awaited decision on 21 March in a case of abuse of a dominant position on the gas, electricity and energy services markets by the incumbent gas operator. It used the new settlement procedure. This replaced the non-contestation of the objections, (...)

Frédéric Marty Market access: The French Competition Authority publishes on opinion on a draft decree on the organisation of passenger transport (Transport particulier de personnes)

173

The Competition Authority had to give its opinion in its opinion No. 17-A-04 of 20 March 2017 on a draft decree relating to the activities of public passenger transport (TPPP), which was finally published on 6 April 2017 (Decree No. 2017-483). This decree, which updates certain provisions of (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary strategy: The French Competition Authority rejects a complaint against alleged practices of a dominant actor in the market for copyright management of literary works (SACD)

162

The Authority rejects a referral from the Société civile des éditeurs de langue française (SCELF) against practices implemented by the Société des auteurs et compositeurs dramatiques (SACD) aimed at ousting it from the market for the collective management of copyright in literary works. The (...)

Frédéric Marty De facto monopoly: The French Competition Authority provides an opinion on the necessary conditions for a practicable competition in household waste treatment sector

520

The Authority has been asked by the Minister for the Economy to give its opinion on the outlook for the sector of eco-organisations responsible for the reprocessing of household packaging. It focuses on the conditions that could allow several eco-organisations to coexist in the context of (...)

Frédéric Marty Business relationships termination : The French Competition Authority rejects a complaint against a dominant company’s practice of accounts removal in the online advertising sector (Idéal Assistance Habitat / Google)

137

The French Competition Authority rejects a referral from a company in the plumbing and locksmithing installation and repair sector in the Paris region (Idéal Assistance Habitat - IAH) against abusive practices by Google in the context of its online advertising marketing activities (AdWords). (...)

Anne-Lise Sibony, Frédéric Marty Essential facility: The General Court of the European Union holds that, to open the market of consolidated real-time data feeds, the Commission was justified to limit itself to behavioural remedies affecting the dominant undertaking and third parties, to the exclusion of competitors (Morningstar / Morningstar / Thomson Reuters)

312

Judgments by the Luxembourg judges on abuse of a dominant position are relatively rare, in particular because of the considerable development of commitment procedures over the last few years. This development is drying up the flow of Commission decisions finding infringements of Article 102 (...)

Frédéric Marty Energy: The Paris Court of Appeal upholds a French Competition Authority decision dismissing an interim measures request made by a new entrant in French gas market (Direct Énergie)

202

The Paris Court of Appeal rejects an appeal brought by Direct Energie, a new entrant in the gas market, against a decision of the French Competition Authority concerning the practices of Engie, the incumbent operator. The Authority had decided to continue the investigation on the merits (...)

Frédéric Marty Exploitative abuse: The French Competition Authority rejects a complaint from a promoter alleging to be victim of an exploitative abuse from a registered social landlord (ACTIS)

242

The French Competition Authority rejects, for lack of evidence, a referral to a Grenoble real estate company (SCI Saint François) claiming abuse of exploitation (in the form of an abusively low purchase price) or even economic dependence committed against it by the city of Grenoble and a (...)

Frédéric Marty Anti-competitive exclusion: The French Competition Authority rejects a complaint against referencing practices of professional opticians by a complementary social security organism (Carte Blanche Partenaires)

153

The Authority rejects in substance - and at the same time rejects the related request for precautionary measures - the joint referral by the Centrale des Opticiens (CDO), a referral centre for independent opticians, and two opticians from Le Mans and Carignan, alleging predatory practices (...)

Frédéric Marty Loyalty rebates: The French Competition Authority sanctions the former State-owned monopoly in terrestrial Hertzian broadcasting for abusive intervention aimed at hindering the development of its competitor and for abusive rebates schemes

292

The French Competition Authority has imposed a financial penalty of more than €20 million on TDF, which until 2003 held a legal monopoly on terrestrial television broadcasting, for anti-competitive predatory practices in the context of markets linked to the roll-out of digital terrestrial (...)

Frédéric Marty Online advertising: The French Competition Authority begins, at its own initiative, gathering information in order to assess data processing in the on-line advertising sector, following its join report "Competition Law and Data", published with the Bundeskartellamt

284

The Competition Authority had already taken up for opinion the competitive situation on the online advertising market (Opinion No. 10-A-29 of 14 December 2010). This opinion, presented in this column (Competition No. 2011-1, pp. 104-108), is the first of its kind in the world.) was (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The French Competition Authority pronounces interim measures in order to prevent potential exclusionary effects stemming from the price practices of the French gas sector incumbent (Direct Energie)

326

On October 13, 2015, Direct Energie, a competitor of Engie in the gas supply sector (of which it was, through GDF, the former legal monopoly), filed a complaint with the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence) for alleged anti-competitive foreclosure practices implemented by (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The European Commission sends statement of objections to the dominant undertaking on the market for operating system and applications for mobile telephone under Article 102 TFEU (Google Android)

234

The European Commission on 20 April this year sent objections to Google regarding possible foreclosure effects resulting from its market practices in the field of operating systems and applications for mobile phones. In the Commission’s view, which opened proceedings in April 2015, Google (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary practice: The French National Competition Authority dismisses a claim related to a sports TV rights action considering that these ones cannot be qualified as premium contents

345

The Competition Authority rejects a referral from Société Ma Chaîne Sports (hereinafter MCS), a subsidiary of Altice (SFR), and, secondarily, its application for interim measures against the allocation of the broadcasting rights to the second division of the French rugby 15-a-side championship (...)

Frédéric Marty Loyalty rebates: The French National Competition Authority fines the telecommunications’ sector incumbent for having abusively hindered the development of its competitors in the business market and prefigures the future transaction procedure (Orange)

312

The French Competition Authority is fining the incumbent telecoms operator €350 million for a series of exclusionary practices against its competitors in the electronic communications market for business (non-residential) customers. A first peculiarity of the decision is the diversity of the (...)

Frédéric Marty Obligation to state reason: The General Court of the European Union upholds a Commission’s decision sanctioning the Polish telecommunications sector incumbent for impairing the access of its competitors to the Internet market (Orange Polska)

325

In this column, we presented the European Commission’s decision imposing a fine of €127 million on the Polish incumbent operator (Telekom Polska, now Orange Polska) for abusing its dominant position on the market for Internet access. Unlike the strategies targeted in Wanadoo (predatory (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary practice: The European Commission renders legally binding the commitments offered by the Bulgarian incumbent to end competition restrictions on Bulgaria’s wholesale electricity market (Bulgarian Energy)

158

Since the launch of the 2005-2007 Sector Inquiry, the Commission has launched more than a dozen procedures in the energy sector for which commitments made binding by decision are almost the default method of settlement. Negotiated procedures allow incumbent operators, to whom objections are (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The French Competition Authority refuses to grant interim measures and rejects the complaints of two fast-food and perfumery stores operators based on exclusionary practices in the framework of the refurbishment of the subway level of the Parisian Gare du Nord Station

210

Decision No. 15-D-15 of the Competition Authority led to the rejection of a double referral, accompanied by requests for protective measures, concerning the allocation of commercial sites in the "suburban mezzanine" of the Gare du Nord station in Paris. A perfumery retailer (Nocibé) and a (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The Paris Court of Appeal modifies the Marseille Commercial Court judgements and characterises the commercial strategy of the operator of a ferry connection with Corsica as an abuse of economic dependence (Rocca Transports, SNCM)

285

The judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal in the Rocca Transports case is of particular importance in that it recognises an abuse of economic dependence, a particularly rare qualification in competition law. The reluctance to apply the provisions of Article L. 420-2 of the Commercial Code to (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The Paris Court of Appeal upholds the Competition Authority decision related to a smear campaign in the yogurt sector in the Island of Martinique (Soc. Nouvelle des Yaourts Littée)

172

The Court of Appeal upholds Decision No. 14-D-08 of July 24, 2014 in the Martinique yogurt case, but reduces the amount of the financial penalty by 20%, arguing that the complexity and uncertainty of the regulations in force at the time of the events could be factors that could mitigate the (...)

Frédéric Marty Essential facilities : The Paris Court of Appeals upholds the French Competition Authority’s decision sanctioning the refusal of a vertically integrated editor of a consumer relationship management software to grant access to its data base to its downstream competitor (Cegedim)

500

The Authority had, by its Decision No 14-D-06 of 8 July 20145,767,000, imposed a financial penalty of 5,767,000 euros on Cegedim. Cegedim publishes CRM (Consumer Relationship Management) software in the medical field and also owns a database (OneKey) on drug sales and prescriber behavior. The (...)

Frédéric Marty Interim measures : The French Competition Authority continues to review on the merits a complaint filed by an Internet sites editor against the suspension of its account by the dominant operator of the online search related advertising market but dismisses its claim for interim measures (Gibmedia)

312

Google’s online search advertising practices are the subject of a new decision by the Competition Authority following the decisions relating to referrals from Navx (Decision No 10-MC-01 of 30 June 2010, Case No 10-MC-01 of 30 June 2010, Case No 10-MC-01 of 30 June 2010, Case No 10-MC-01 of 30 (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary conduct : The Paris Court of Appeals partially reforms a French National Competition Authority’s decision fining the electricity sector incumbent for abuse of dominance in the photovoltaic electricity sector (EDF)

365

The Court of Appeal significantly reduced the penalty imposed on December 17, 2013 by the French Competition Authority on EDF for anti-competitive foreclosure practices against its competitors on a downstream market related to electricity from photovoltaic sources between November 2007 and (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary conduct : The French Competition Authority obtains commitments from a dominant online travel agency aiming at increasing the competition intensity between online intermediation platforms and providing hotels additional commercial leeway (Booking.com)

419

Booking.com holds a position likely to be described as dominant on the market for the online offer of French hotel overnight accommodation reservation services (overnight stays alone as opposed to overnight stays included in travel packages and reservations linked to corporate travel). (...)

Frédéric Marty Incumbent operator : The French Competition Authority renders binding the commitments proposed by the subsidiaries of the French railways sector incumbent in order to address its competition concerns about distortions in a downstream market of passenger transportation studies

330

The conditions for the compatibility with competition rules of the diversification of former operators benefiting from exclusive rights have been the subject of numerous decisions and opinions of the Council and then of the Competition Authority, as illustrated by the photovoltaic case (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The Paris Court of Appeals confirms the Competition Authority’s decision to dismiss a complaint related to an alleged abuse of dominant position arising from the exercise of pre-emptive rights for hardware stores (Altimat)

298

CA Paris, March 26, 2015, Altimat, RG 2013/23132 The Paris Court of Appeal dismisses an action for annulment brought by a DIY distribution company based in the Tarentaise Valley against a decision of the Competition Authority. The decision, handed down on 29 October 2013, had led to the (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The Paris Court of Appeals dismisses a claim of a pharmaceutical laboratory against a French Competition Authority’s decision imposing a sanction for an exclusionary abuse against a generic manufacturer (Sanofi)

274

The Paris Court of Appeals confirms the decision handed down by the French Competition Authority in the case of the disparagement practices implemented by Sanofi against generic drugs competing with its originator product, Plavix, whose active ingredient is clopidogrel, used in the prevention (...)

Frédéric Marty Margin squeeze : The European Commission fines a Slovak incumbent telecommunications operator and its mother society for abuse of dominance against its competitors

321

The decision handed down by the European Commission on 15 October 2014 in the Slovak ADSL case will be particularly interesting to analyse as soon as it is published. The facts are part of a now classic dispute in the telecommunications sector. It concerns an abuse of a dominant position by an (...)

Frédéric Marty Foreclosure : The European Commission rejects a complaint filed by a Slovak vehicle distributor based on an alleged abuse of dominance of a vehicle constructer (Magyar Suzuki)

202

The Commission rejects a complaint from a Slovak car dealer considering that the breach of its contract with Suzuki was potentially an abuse of foreclosure. In view of the absence of a dominant position of the Japanese manufacturer on the relevant market (3.16% in Slovakia and 1.3% at EU (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusivity : The Paris Court of Appeals confirms the major part of the French Competition Authority’s decision related to reopening the competition in the sector of audiovisual rights for the French rugby championship (CanalPlus)

267

The Paris Court of Appeals ruling on an appeal brought by Canal Plus Group and the French National Rugby League against Decision No. 14-MC-01 dated July 30, 2014 of the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) relating to the allocation of the audiovisual rights of the French (...)

Frédéric Marty Essential facility : The French Competition Authority orders, as interim measures, the French gas sector incumbent operator to grant its competitors access to some of the information in its database (Direct Energie)

393

Aut. conc., dec. no. 14-MC-02 of 9 September 2014 relating to a request for precautionary measures presented by the company Direct Energie in the gas and electricity sectors CA Paris, October 31, 2014, RG n° 2014/19335 On 9 September 2014, the French Competition Authority issued protective (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments : The French Competition Authority declares binding the commitments proposed by the dominant operator of the coffee capsules expresso machine sector in order to address its competition concerns related to a potential exclusion of new entrants on the coffee capsule market (Nestlé, Nespresso)

360

The market for high pressure potioned coffee espresso machines (i.e. working with pods) and the market for pods was born at the beginning of this century with the Nespresso coffee makers and pods. This market differs from the traditional high pressure percolation in which the consumer doses (...)

Frédéric Marty Public intervention : The French Competition Authority issues an opinion on potential competition distortion induced by public sector entities activity within the businesses hosting services industry

305

The opinion n°14-A-12, delivered on July 31, 2014, by the Competition Authority, following a referral from the national union of business accommodation professionals (SYNAPHE) on the situation of competition in the sector allows - beyond the question of the possible possibilities of (...)

Frédéric Marty Public intervention: The French Competition Authority issues an opinion on potential effects on the competition of public sector entities proposals for healthcare laundry facilities markets

345

The opinion delivered by the Competition Authority following the referral of the Groupement des Entreprises Industrielles de Services Textiles (GEIST) on 31 July 2014 largely echoes the opinion delivered the same day on the competition situation in the business accommodation sector. In both (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusivity clauses : The French Competition Authority pronounces interim measures suspending an agreement between the dominant operator of the pay-TV sector and a professional sport league (BeIN Sports)

292

Exclusivity clauses on audiovisual content, and in particular the rights to broadcast certain sporting events, are one of the variables determining the attractiveness of the pay-TV services on offer, but also a possible means of anti-competitive foreclosure of the markets concerned (P. (...)

Frédéric Marty Discrimination : The French Competition Authority fines a dominant operator in the medical information databases and customer relationship management software sectors for a discriminatory refusal to access the facilities (Cegedim)

527

The Authority’s Decision on practices in the medical information databases sector is worth reiterating that a refusal to sell on a discriminatory basis by a dominant operator, even if it remains implicit, may constitute an abuse of a dominant position even if the product in question does not (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The French Competition Authority fines the dominant mobile telephony operator in La Reunion and Mayotte islands for having practiced unfair prices between online and offline call termination charges (SFR)

312

The Authority’s decision of June 13, 2014 concerns the practices implemented by SRR, a subsidiary of SFR, the dominant operator in the mobile telephony sector in Reunion and Morocco. The decision confirms the abuse of exclusionary conduct with regard to the differentiation of on net and off (...)

Frédéric Marty Exploitative abuse : The European Commission issues two decisions on refusals to grant licenses in fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory conditions for smartphone standard essential patents (Motorola)

388

On 29 April, the Commission issued two important decisions on access to essential patents in the context of the patent war that has been waged for several years by the main players in the smartphone market. Of these two decisions, only one has so far been published, the other being public only (...)

Frédéric Marty Online betting: The French Competition Authority has accepted incumbent commitments to split its online and offline horse race betting services, bringing to an end an investigation for exclusionary abuse (PMU)

312

By Decision No 14-D-04 of 25 February 2014, the Competition Authority makes binding the commitments proposed by GIE PMU to end the proceedings initiated for abuse of foreclosure. This decision follows the referral on 2 January 2012 of one of its competitors on the online horse betting market, (...)

Frédéric Marty Information: The French Competition Authority dismisses a complaint related to an abuse of dominance in the sector of services providing online information concerning the creation of undertakings and the solvency of the latter (Infogreffe)

215

Operators on the market for the electronic dissemination of economic and legal information on companies have referred to the Authority about practices of the Infogreffe EIG that they consider to constitute abuse of a dominant position (in terms of the price of transmission of certain (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The French Competition Authority fines the incumbent electricity operator for an exclusionary abuse in the field of photovoltaic electricity (EDF)

443

13.5 million for having distorted competition to the benefit of its subsidiary EDF ENR on the emerging photovoltaic electricity market between 2007 and 2010. This decision, which follows an initial decision relating to a request for precautionary measures (decision no. 09-MC-01 of April 8, (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse: The European Commission market tests the commitments offered by the German railways sector incumbent in order to address its competition concerns relative to a possible margin squeeze proceeding from its pricing system for traction current (Deutsche Bahn I, II, III)

342

Commission submits proposals for voluntary commitments by the German incumbent railway operator to a market test. These proposals are designed to address the Commission’s concerns about a possible foreclosure effect resulting from a margin squeeze. In the present case, the margin squeeze for (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse : The French competition authority declines to impose the interim measures requested by a competitor of a subsidiary of the French incumbent in the railways sector but decides to continue its investigations concerning a possible exclusionary abuse (Request for interim measures relating to practices implementing by the SNCF Group in the passenger transport sector)

276

The Authority rejects the request for interim measures filed by Transdev (a joint subsidiary of the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations and Veolia Environnement) against Keolis and its parent company, the SNCF group, but decides to continue its investigation into the merits of the case as (...)

Frédéric Marty Access refusal to an essential facility: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim for exclusionary abuse about the access to heavy medical equipments (Access conditions to heavy medical equipments in the Saint Etienne area)

232

This decision is part of a long series of disputes between private radiologists and entities managing heavy medical equipment such as scanners and MRI scanners (Dec. No. 06-D-36 of December 6, 2006Dec. No. 10-D-25 of 28 July 2010.). In this case, the matter was referred to a private (...)

Frédéric Marty Denigration: The French Competition Authority fines a leader of the pharmaceutical industry for disparaging the generic version of one of its own branded-products (Practices implemented in the pharmaceutical sector)

363

The European Commission’s sector inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector had identified numerous strategies available to originator companies to hinder access to the generic market (see European Commission, Report of the Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry, DG Competition, July 2009). The damage to (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission makes legally binding the commitments proposed by a dominant undertaking in the aluminium industry to address its concerns about competition on the market for aluminium smelting equipment (Rio Tinto)

267

We described in this column (Concurrences n°4-2012), the commitments offered by Rio Tinto Alcan, a dominant operator in the aluminium industry, to end the Commission’s proceedings concerning a possible abuse of a dominant position in the market for foundry equipment. Rio Tinto Alcan, by tying (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission renders legally binding the commitments proposed to address its competition concerns relative to licensing terms for financial instrument codes (Reuters Instrument Codes)

218

In this column (Concurrences No. 4-2012), the commitments proposed by Thomson-Reuters to meet the Commission’s competition concerns regarding the licensing terms of the rights to use Reuters’ financial instrument codes (RICs) for which it holds a dominant position, a position in particular (...)

Frédéric Marty Interim measures: The French Competition Authority refuses to issue interim measures against the incumbent for practices in the photovoltaic electricity sector but decides to pursue its investigations (Sun’R)

240

Feed-in tariffs for electricity produced from renewable energies have given rise to lively theoretical debates and many disputes since their introduction in 2000 (Law No. 2008-108). The purchase obligation imposed on the incumbent operator and non-nationalised distributors in 1946 raises not (...)

Frédéric Marty Market test: The European Commission launches a market test relative to the proposals of the dominant undertaking on the search and on-line advertising markets to address its competition concerns (Commitments offered by Google)

2079

MEMO/13/383 of 25 April 2013 The Google case, opened in November 2010, takes a new step forward with the launch of a market test of the behavioural commitments proposed by the Mountain View firm to address the competition concerns raised by the Commission in March. Briefly recall that (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission makes binding the commitments proposed by the incumbent operator to address its concerns about the competition in the Czech electricity market (CEZ)

2201

While the wholesale price on the European electricity market (at least its integrated continental plate) is considered too low to trigger the investment decisions necessary to ensure long-term security of supply, the Commission is continuing the efforts undertaken since the publication of the (...)

Frédéric Marty Essential facilities - Margin Squeeze: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim of a sport league regarding anticompetitive practices implemented by the operator of the national major stadium (French National Rugby League)

332

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-28 of 20 December 2012 relating to a referral from the French Rugby Federation The long history of the Stade de France (hereinafter referred to as the SdF) concession contract, a public-private partnership contract signed well before its time, and the disputes (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary prices: The French Competition Authority imposes a fine and an injunction to the incumbent operator to restore competition in the railway freight sector (Rail freight)

855

Aut. conc., Dec. No. 12-D-25 of 18 December 2012 on practices implemented in the rail freight transport sector On 18 December 2012, the Competition Authority penalised SNCF by more than €60 million for eviction abuses against new entrants to the rail freight market. The abusive practices (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary practices: The French Competition Authority makes binding commitments proposed by the French printed and electronic directories’ dominant operator for guaranteeing a competition level playing field to independent advertising agencies (PagesJaunes)

426

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-22 of 22 November 2012 relating to a referral submitted by NHK Conseil, Agence I&MA conseils, Sudmédia conseil, OSCP, Audit Conseil Publicité Annuaires, Charcot.net, Agence Heuveline, Avycom publicité annuaire, Toocom, Ecoannuaires, Netcreative-Pages annuaires (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary practices - Incumbent: The Court of cassation definitively confirms the French Competition Authority decision to reject allegation of abuse in the energy generation and conversion sectors for lack of conclusive evidence (Euro Power Technology/EDF)

204

Euro Power Technology builds gas turbines and is also active in the field of biogas power generation units. On June 17, 2008, Euro Power Technology brought a case before the French Competition Council on the basis of the eviction strategies implemented against it by EDF and certain of its (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary practices - Essential facitities: The French Competition Authority conducts a sector inquiry into car repair and maintenance services, highlighting inter alia the necessity for independent repairers to access technical information without restrictions or distortions (Car spare parts)

405

Aut. Conciliation, Opinion No 12-A-21 of 8 October 2012 on the competitive operation of the vehicle repair and maintenance and spare parts manufacturing and distribution sectors. Following numerous decisions on cases of alleged or actual distortions of competition between independent car (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuses – Tying: The European Commission market tests the commitments proposed by an aluminium sector operator to address its competitive concerns (Réel/Alcan)

202

Eur. Comm, Press release, 10.08.12 - box 39.230 - Real/Alcan, 2012 C 240/08 On 21 February 2008, the Commission had opened formal proceedings against Rio Tinto Alcan’s licensing practices for its aluminium smelting technology (known as AP - Aluminium Pechiney). Its conditions are likely to (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuse - Interoperability: The European Commission consults interested third parties on the new commitments proposed to address its competitive concerns about its practices relative to licensing practices for financial instrument codes (Reuters Instrument Codes)

176

Eur. Comm. press release, 12.07.12, box COMP 39.654 - Reuters Instrument Codes (RICs), 2012 C 204/08 In October 2009, the Commission opened formal proceedings against Thomson-Reuters’ practices regarding the terms and conditions for the licensing of RIC codes, which may infringe Article 102 (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuses: The European Commission consults interested third parties on the commitments proposed by the Czech electricity sector incumbent to address its competitive concerns

117

Eur. Comm, Press release, 10.07.12 - box 39.727 - CEZ, 2012 C 202/01 The Czech electricity market appears to add to the already long series of cases related to predatory practices on European energy markets closed through commitment procedures. Concomitantly or following the energy sector (...)

Anne-Lise Sibony, Frédéric Marty Margin squeeze: The General Court rejects appeals against the Commission decision fining a Spanish telecommunications operator for margin squeeze and gives guidance as to how to apply the as-efficient-competitor test (Telefónica and Telefónica de España - Spain)

628

Trib. UE, 29 March 2012, Telefónica and Telefónica de España v Commission, Case T-336/07 Trib. EU, 29 March 2012, Spain v Commission, Case T-398/07 In two judgments of 29 March 2012, the Court of First Instance dismisses two separate actions relating to the same Commission decision of 4 (...)

Anne-Lise Sibony, Frédéric Marty Refusal to deal : The European Commission imposes a 127 million Euros fine on the Polish incumbent telecom operator for having abused its dominant position by delaying entry in the market for Internet access (Telekomunikacja Polska)

625

Eur. comm., 22 June 2011, Telekomunikacja Polska, Case COMP/39525 In a June decision published in November 2011, the European Commission imposed a fine of 127 million euros on the Polish incumbent operator for abusing its dominant position in the Internet access market. The existence of this (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments – Exploitative abuses : The European Commission makes mandatory the commitments proposed by a company in order to respond to its statement of objections on its practices concerning the license fees for the use of International Securities Identification Numbers (ISIN) (Standard and Poor’s)

353

Eur. Comm, 15 November 2011, Standard and Poor’s, Case COMP/39592 The Commission, by its decision of 15 November 2011 in Case COMP 39.592, renders binding, as amended, the commitments offered by Standard and Poor’s with regard to the distribution and billing of ISIN numbers, the (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments – Level playing field: The French Competition Auhtority makes a funeral operator’s commitments mandatory in order to prevent competition distortions resulting from vertical integration (Funeral services)

290

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-14 of 20 October 2011 relating to practices implemented in the funeral sector in the Manche department The French Competition Authority’s decision no. 11-D-14 of 20 October 2011 relating to practices implemented in the funeral sector in the Manche department comes on (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments – Essential facilities: The French Competition Auhtority makes mandatory commitments proposed to solve its concerns about the access to heavy medical equipment (Arcachon hospital)

317

Council Decision No. 11-D-18 of 15 December 2011 on practices concerning access to CT and MRI scanners at the Arcachon Hospital Centre. Decision no. 11-D-18 closes, through a commitment procedure, a procedure initiated by a radiologist against the managers of the scanner and MRI at the (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of collective dominance: The French Competition Authority rules against an abuse of collective dominance position and makes commitments bindings in order to prevent anticompetitive foreclosing of public works’ contracts resulting from input’s control by a consortium of competitors (Public construction works in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon)

943

(see also, supra, "Agreements" column, obs. Mr. Debroux) Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-06 of 26 January 2012 on practices implemented in the aggregates sector and downstream markets in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon Dealing essentially with practices falling within the scope of Article L. 420-1 of (...)

Frédéric Marty Access to an essential facility: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim to access medical facilities used for dialysis (Sector of dialysis treatment in Haute-Savoie)

271

(see also, infra, "Public Sector" column, obs. J. P. Kovar) Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-03 of 23 January 2012 concerning a referral from the Polyclinique de Savoie relating to practices of the Association for the Use of the Artificial Kidney (AURAL-Lyon) in the sector of the treatment of (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary strategy – Interim measures: The French Competition Authority refuses to adopt interim measures against practices in the relational data base managing systems (RDBMS) but investigates the complaint on merits (Oracle)

305

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-01 of January 10, 2012 relating to a request for precautionary measures concerning practices implemented by Oracle Corporation and Oracle France The Authority has to deal with a referral from Hewlett-Packard (hereinafter ’HP’) alleging anti-competitive foreclosure (...)

Frédéric Marty Exclusionary abuses – Commitments: The European Commission makes commitments binding, allowing competitors to access mainframes maintenance markets on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (IBM Maintenance services)

271

Eur. Comm., dec. C(2011) 9245 final, 13 December 2011, IBM - Maintenance services, case COMP/39692 On 26 July 2010, the Commission opened two proceedings under Article 102 of the Treaty against IBM (IP/10/2006). The first concerned a possible abuse of foreclosure to the detriment of (...)

Frédéric Marty Digital convergence and risks of market foreclosure: Which roles for competition policy and sectorial regulation? (Media-culture & digital: New competition issues (s) - Paris, 8 Feb. 2011)

1004

Digital convergence tends to redefine positions and competitive power in related industries. Inducing new entrances as well as new products and services, this phenomenon seems particularly likely to undermine existing dominant positions. At the opposite, digital convergence could also favor (...)

Frédéric Marty Breach of commitments: The French Competition Authority adopts sanctions against the city of Marseille for having violated its commitments, which had been made binding by the competition authority in a previous decision (Marseille)

663

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-10 of 6 July 2011 relating to compliance by the city of Marseille with the commitments made in Competition Council Decision no. 08-D-43 of 22 December 2008 The abolition of the municipal monopoly on the external service of undertakers by Act No. 93-23 of 8 January (...)

Frédéric Marty Exploitative and exclusionary abuses: The French Competition Authority dismisses a claim and a request for interim measures of an independent electricity suppliers association against the French independent system operator and incumbent on the basis of exclusionary and exploitative abuses (EDF and RTE)

1988

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-09 of June 8, 2011 concerning practices implemented by EDF and RTE in the electricity sector (See also, "Regulations" column, infra, obs. E. Guillaume) The French Competition Authority (hereinafter the Authority) declares inadmissible, on the basis of Article L. (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission issues a market test relative to commitments proposed in order to respond to a statement of objections on practices concerning the license fees for the use of International Securities Identification Numbers (Standard & Poor’s)

641

Eur. comm. notice art. 27(4) Reg. 1/2003, EFAMA a.o. v. Standard & Poor’s, case COMP/39592, OJEU C144, 14 May 2011, p.28 On 16 May the Commission published a press release (IP/11/571) setting out the commitments proposed by Standard and Poor’s (hereafter S&P’s) to meet its (...)

Frédéric Marty Essential facility – Commitments: The European Commission launches a market test concerning Greek commitments submitted for allowing incumbent’s competitor to access to lignite-fired power plant capacities (PPC)

874

(See also, "procedures" column, infra, obs. C. Lemaire) Eur. comm., 13 January 2011, Greek Lignite and Electricity Markets, Case COMP/38700 On 14 January, the European Commission invited interested parties to comment on proposed commitments from Greece regarding access to lignite-fired (...)

Frédéric Marty Discrimination - Exclusivity clause: The French Competition Authority issues an opinion on the online advertising market competition situation, while the European Commission initiates antitrust proceedings relative to Google market practices (Google)

1497

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 10-A-29 of 14 December 2010 on the competitive functioning of online advertising European Commission, Press release IP/10/1624 of 30 November 2010, Commission investigates allegations of antitrust violations by Google On 30 November 2010, the European Commission (...)

Frédéric Marty Discrimination: The Paris Court of Appeal rejects an appeal of a biogas market operator against a decision of the French Competition Authority, which found no exclusionary abuse on the part of EDF or its subsidiaries and rejected its application for interim measures (Euro Power Technology)

1010

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, December 2, 2010, Euro Power Technologyagainst Aut. conc., Dec. no. 10-D-14 of 16 April 2010 relating to practices implemented in the sector of the electrical valorisation of biogas Euro Power Technology is active in the distribution of micro-turbines and gas engines and (...)

Frédéric Marty Vertical integration - Commitments: The European Commission renders legally binding the Italian gas incumbent’s commitments on gas transportation asset’s divestiture (ENI)

1177

Eur. comm., Dec. art. 9 R.1/2003 of 29 September 2010, ENI, case COMP/39315 The European Commission’s decision, making binding the commitments offered by ENI to end the proceedings against it for the anti-competitive foreclosure of the Italian gas market, is one of a long line of energy (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments : The French Competition Authority accepts and makes legally binding commitments aimed at preventing anticompetitive exclusionary practices (Michelin and Pneumatiques Kléber)

1236

The Competition Authority’s acceptance of the commitments proposed by Michelin brings to an end a procedure that has been underway since the summer of 2008. The proceedings concerned practices implemented by Michelin and its subsidiary Kléber in the sale of replacement tyres for heavy goods (...)

Frédéric Marty Interim measures - Refusal to license a competitor: The French Competition Authority rejects an application for interim measures in a case of alleged anticompetitive practices in the pharmaceutical sector which consisted in refusing to license a competitor and in denigration of competing products (Sanofi-Aventis)

1540

Aut. conc. dec. no. 10-D-16 of May 17, 2010 relating to practices implemented by Sanofi-Aventis France On November 2, 2009, the Competition Authority received a complaint from the generic manufacturer Téva Santé concerning practices implemented by Sanofi-Aventis on the "city" market for (...)

Frédéric Marty Electricity incumbent - Interim measures: The French Competition Authority rejects a complaint filed by a competitor of the electricity incumbent in the area of renewable energies together with application for interim relief (Euro Power Technology)

1424

Aut. conc. dec. no. 10-D-14 of 16 April 2010 on practices implemented in the biogas electricity recovery sector CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 1 June 2010, Euro Power Technology On June 17, 2008, Euro Power Technology, a company specializing in the installation of independent biogas-fired power plants (...)

Frédéric Marty Abuse of collective dominant position: The Paris Court of Appeal recalls the criteria of collective dominance and confirms the fine imposed to firms which took part in the cartel agreement (Corsican cement)

2439

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, April 15, 2010, Vicat and Lafarge Ciments on remand after cassation, v. Aut. conc. 07-D-08 of 12 March 2007 concerning practices implemented in the cement supply and distribution sector in Corsica The Corsican cement case, the first act of which was given by decision no. (...)

Frédéric Marty Commitments: The European Commission renders legally binding the French electricity incumbent’s commitments on long term supply contracts with energy intensive consumers (French electricity market)

1688

Eur. Comm, IP/10/290, 17 March 2010, EDF commitments to open French electricity market to competition made legally binding, case COMP/39386 As part of the preparation of the Third Package of Directives on the internal energy market, the European Commission had, over a period of more than (...)

Frédéric Marty Dismissal of the charges: The French Competition Authority finds no abuse where a drug company merely aligned its prices with competitors, despite possible source effects (Low molecular weight heparins)

1623

Aut. conc. dec. no. 10-D-02 of 14 January 2010 on practices implemented in the low molecular weight heparin sector The Competition Authority concludes that a case relating to a possible anti-competitive leverage strategy has been dismissed. The case concerns sales at zero price of a (...)

Frédéric Marty Case of discrimination and exclusionary conduct: The French Competition Authority rules, in a case of discrimination and exclusionary conduct, against independent car repairs (Volvo Trucks France)

2064

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-D-37 of 10 December 2009 relating to practices implemented in the sector of repair of industrial vehicles, boat engines and public works machinery The Competition Authority rejects the referral of an independent commercial vehicle repairer on the grounds of (...)

Frédéric Marty Primacy of administrative jurisdictions: The French Competition Authority confirms the primacy of administrative jurisdictions in the assessment of the compliance to competition law of general interest services outsourcing decisions (Emergency transport)

2310

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-D-34 of 18 November 2009 relating to public works contracts for electricity and public lighting in Corsica The French Competition Authority has declared inadmissible the referral of Var health transport companies excluded by a decision of the Centre Général Hospitalier (...)

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