Frédéric Marty

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 (...)

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), (...)

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. (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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. (...)

Children of Gaia and Ouranos, the six titans dominated the world before Cronos was dethroned by Zeus, his own son. After the victory of the gods, all the titans were relegated to Tartarus. François Lévêque brilliantly portrays the emergence and consolidation of the economic power of very large (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Following the announcements made by the European Commissioner for Competition in December 2019 (see this column, volume 1-2020, pp. 87-88), the Commission has initiated a reflection on the evolution of the definition of relevant markets. These are currently defined on the basis of a Commission (...)

The information report presented by Valéria Faure-Muntian and Daniel Fasquelle on behalf of the Committee on Economic Affairs of the National Assembly makes a significant contribution to the debate on the framework for digital markets and in this sense echoes the initiatives taken by the (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The European Commission is penalising a Spanish hotel chain for introducing contractual clauses in its agreements with tour operators which are liable to introduce geographical discrimination between different consumers on a national basis. The Commission launched an investigation in (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The phenomena of digital convergence and the structuring of many industries into ecosystems are leading to increasing difficulties in defining relevant markets. This definition is crucial in competitive disputes, particularly in the digital sector where ultra-dominance phenomena are very (...)

The European Commission has sanctioned Qualcomm for abuse of foreclosure in the integrated circuit market. According to the Commission, the anticompetitive foreclosure strategy implemented was based on a predatory pricing strategy. The decision, which carries a penalty of €242 million, has not (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The commitments entered into by Gazprom and made binding by the Commission by means of a decision are of the most significant importance in that they make it possible, if there were still any need, to grasp how the activation of the competition rules can be an essential vector for the (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The Competition Authority, as part of a self-referral, carried out the equivalent of a sector inquiry for the online advertising market. This has updated the conclusions of a first opinion published in 2010 (opinion of 14 December 2010, No 10-A-29) in the light of developments in competition (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The European Commission has imposed a €997 million fine on Qualcomm for anti-competitive exclusionary conduct in the chipset market. These are essential components in computers, tablets and telephones, consisting of pre-programmed integrated circuits that enable exchanges between processors, (...)

The Competition Authority rejects a referral dated 19 December 2013 from 1PlusV, publisher of the Ejustice.fr website, concerning an alleged abuse of exclusion by Google against it. This abuse took the form of tying and discriminatory practices. Google offers online advertising services (...)

The Competition Authority rejects the referral of the Tarbes Diffusion Presse company, which considered that it was the victim of abusive practices on the part of Presstalis (unjustified levies, severance of commercial relations) and of an agreement between it and the MLP (Messageries (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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, (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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). (...)

The Court of Cassation overturns and partially annuls the decision of the Paris Court of Appeal handed down on 6 November 2014 in the SNCF freight case. Its partial cassation only concerns predatory pricing as characterised by the Competition Authority in its decision no. 12-D-25 of 18 (...)

The Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal brought by Sanofi-Aventis in the Plavix case. The strategy of denigration characterized by the French Competition Authority (Decision No. 13-D-11 of May 14, 2013) is now confirmed.confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeal in its judgment of 18 December (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Access to heavy medical equipment such as scanners and MRIs has often given rise to disputes between practitioners on the basis of Article 102 TFEU. Practitioners not associated with the structures authorised to invest in such equipment should be able to benefit from access to such equipment (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

A noteworthy decision by the European Commission puts an early end to the commitments entered into by Deutsche Bahn’s energy subsidiaries DB Energie and DG Mobility Logistics, the German incumbent operator in the railway sector. The commitments in question had been made binding by a Commission (...)

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 (...)

The Authority’s decision regarding an alleged predatory pricing practice in the field of recycling of household waste underlines the necessary linkage of prices to costs to attribute such a qualification to the pricing policy of a given undertaking. It also highlights the possible disruptive (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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). (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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. (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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, (...)

The European Commission issued a press release on February 5, 2014 announcing its acceptance of Google’s modified commitment proposals to meet its competition concerns. These concerns were based on possible exclusionary abuses that could arise from Google’s policy on the dissemination of (...)

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 (...)

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, (...)

The Competition Authority has had to give its opinion, through its Opinion No. 11-A-02 on the conditions of competition in the field of online gaming and in particular on the possible distortions of competition which may result from the coexistence within the Pari Mutuel Urbain EIG of (...)

The European Commission published on 18 October 2013 a market test of Samsung’s proposed commitments to address the competition concerns it communicated to the Korean group in December 2012. The objections addressed to the Korean group concern a possible abuse of a dominant position linked to (...)

The principle of liberalisation of network industries characterised by the existence of segments remaining in a natural monopoly situation is based on the unbundling of competitive activities from activities of a monopolistic nature, which must be subject to specific regulation to allow all (...)

The "reasonably-efficient operator test" is a general test used for pricing strategies of dominant firms by the European Commission. Contributions of this "Trends" present this test in various areas of competition law. The importance of this test has recently been underlined by the Court of (...)

The Post Danmark judgment seems to initiate a convergence between the Court of Justice of the European Union’s case law and the more economic approach of the abuses of dominance advocated by the European Commission. One of the most interesting dimensions of this Judgment is undoubtedly a new (...)

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 (...)

The Commission is continuing its now long series of proceedings against incumbent operators in the gas and electricity sectors, initiated already in the 2005-2007 sector inquiry on the competitive functioning of the internal energy market, by opening formal proceedings against the Bulgarian (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Eur. com. press release IP/13/196 of 6 March 2013, Case COMP/C/39.350. An increasing, if not hegemonic, share of cases initiated on the basis of Article 102 finds a conclusion through the use of a negotiated procedure under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. The Commission then makes binding - (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The Court of Justice has received five references for preliminary rulings concerning the abusive nature of an infringement action where the proprietor of a patent which is essential to a standard acts in breach of that standard and thereby puts an end to a possible negotiation with the (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Among other factors, one can assess the efficacy of a competition authority by its ability to choose and implement its remedies. Up until now, a dense economic literature has emerged on retrospective merger studies to measure the efficacy of merger control. Yet, little attention has been given (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

(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 (...)

(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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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. (...)

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 (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-06 of 24 February 2011 concerning practices implemented in the funeral sector in Tours and its suburbs The Competition Authority has decided that there is no need to continue proceedings initiated at the initiative of the confederation of funeral and marble (...)

(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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Concordance No. 10-D-32 of 16 November 2010 on practices implemented in the pay television sector. In the context of digital convergence, the issue of exclusivity clauses relating to audiovisual content has given rise to many competition concerns and has been at the centre of much litigation (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

The iPhone case illustrates the issue of exclusive dealing in high tech sectors. Previous law cases on broadcasting right restrictions highlighted the risk of anticompetitive foreclosure through such contractual clauses. This paper aims at confronting the French competition authorities’ (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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. (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

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 (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-D-33 of November 10, 2009 relating to practices implemented by Chep France in the rental and management of plastic bins and pallets. The Competition Authority considers that a dominant undertaking cannot rationally engage in a strategy of predation if the erosion of (...)