Italian Competition Authority

A552 - Italian Competition Authority: Following the Authority’s intervention, Google’s data portability becomes easier* Google’s investigation into alleged abuse of its dominant position has been closed with commitments. From now on it will be easier for users to transfer their data from (...)

I864 - ICA: investigation initiated vis-à-vis Eni, Esso, Ip, Iplom, Q8, Tamoil and Saras for alleged cartel in the motor fuels sector* According to the Authority, which received a report from a whistleblower, the companies may have coordinated to define the value of the ’bio component’ of (...)

A562 - Italian Competition Authority: investigation launched against the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC) for an alleged abuse of a dominant position* According to the Authority, the Italian Football Federation tried to restrict the organisation of (...)

A559- - Antitrust: the ICA orders Meta to resume negotiations with SIAE. Musical works available again on Facebook e Instagram* The Authority adopts interim measures concerning the alleged abuse of economic dependence by Mark Zuckerberg’s group, which will also have to provide all (...)

A559 - ICA: probe started for abuse of economic dependence by Meta towards SIAE* According to the Authority, Mark Zuckerberg’s company could have unduly interrupted the negotiations for licensing the use, on its platforms, of musical rights thus abusing of SIAE’s economic dependence. At the (...)

Italian Competition Authority: fuel prices - investigations have been initiated and inspections carried out against Eni, Esso, IP, Kuwait Petroleum Italia and Tamoil* The identified irregularities concern charging different prices at fuel stations compared to advertised prices as well as (...)

PS12165 - Italian Competition Authority: investigation initiated against Intesa Sanpaolo for an alleged unfair commercial practice* The Authority is scrutinising how the banking group marketed its fixed-rate and floating-rate real estate mortgage loans: the bank allegedly failed to provide (...)

A552 - Italian Competition Authority, investigation opened against Google for abuse of dominant position in data portability* According to the Italian Competition Authority, Google allegedly hindered interoperability in sharing individuals’ data with other platforms, and particularly with (...)

A524 - ICA fines Leadiant 3,5 million euros for abusing its dominant position* The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) found that since June 2017 Leadiant has charged the Italian NHS unfairly excessive prices for the sale of a life-saving drug. Similar proceedings were conducted by (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) fined ferry operator Caronte & Tourist (“C&T”) €3.7 million for having charged excessive prices on a ferry transportation route between Sicily and Calabria between 2017 and 2019 (the “Decision”). I. The investigation In July 2020, the (...)

DC10398 - ICA: requests for information about fuel prices sent to leading oil companies* With the assistance of the Guardia di Finanza (Italian Financial Police), the Authority notified the documentation at the offices of the companies Following the extraordinary increase in petrol and (...)

ICA: FiberCop gets the green light. The commitments of TIM, Fastweb, Tiscali and KKR submitted after the start of the proceedings have been accepted* The commitments, positively assessed by the Authority, will make it possible to reduce barriers to the acquisition of operators and support (...)

ICA: fines totaling over 10 million euro against companies active in the supply of water meters due to an anti-competitive agreement* According to the Authority, many tenders launched between 2011 and 2019 by various operators of the Integrated urban water management for the supply of (...)

ICA: total fines of more than 10 million Euro imposed on Unieuro, Mediaworld, Leroy Merlin and Monclick* The four companies implemented unfair commercial practices in their e-commerce businesses The Italian Competition Authority has closed three proceedings initiated against Unieuro (...)

A528 - Italian Competition Authority: Amazon fined over € 1,128 billion for abusing its dominant position* The Authority found that Amazon harmed its competitors in the market for e-commerce logistics services. The Authority imposed behavioral measures on Amazon that will be subject to (...)

A549 - Italian Competition Authority: proceedings have been started against Viterbo S.r.l.* Given the seriousness of the situation for the waste emergency in the Lazio Region, the Authority has not excluded the use of interim measures The Italian Competition Authority has decided to (...)

ICA: $20 million sanctions against Google and Apple for commercial use of user data* The Authority has found two violations of the Consumer Code, one for information deficiencies and another for aggressive practices regarding the acquisition and use of consumer data The Italian (...)

I855 - Italian Competition Authority: an investigation has been launched against the Interprovincial Association of Pharmacists of Bari-Barletta-Andria-Trani and numerous pharmacies in Altamura* A possible agreement on discounts applied to medicines and OTC products is currently under the (...)

C12373 - ICA: Nexi-Sia merger authorised subject to conditions* The measures imposed by the Authority serve to ensure that potential new market entrants can operate effectively on a commercial basis and to prevent any discrimination The Italian Competition Authority authorised the merger (...)

ICA: non-compliance proceedings initiated against Autostrade per l’Italia* The licence-owner received a fine of €5 million in March but has not yet reduced the cost of tolls on the sections with significant traffic problems. The Italian Competition Authority has initiated a non-compliance (...)

ICA: proceeding opened against Tim and Dazn for possible anti-competitive practice through the TV rights agreement for the Liga A football series* The Authority will evaluate the adoption of precautionary measures only if it finds that considerable and irreparable damage to competition (...)

ICA: Google fined over 100 million for abuse of dominant position* The Antitrust Authority has ordered Google to include in Android Auto the Enel X app allowing the use of services related to the recharging of electric vehicles. The Italian Competition Authority has imposed a fine of over (...)

ICA: Italgas commitments accepted for the tender concerning the gas distribution service in some municipalities of the province of Venice* According to the Authority, the competitive concerns that had led to the opening of the investigation in May 2020 have been solved L’Autorità Garante (...)

ICA: investigations closed against the Brescia and Lecce football teams for unfair clauses in season ticket contracts* The football clubs have modified their contractual conditions, however Lecce’s clauses excluding reimbursement in the event of supervening impossibility of providing the (...)

ICA: fourteen investigations opened into as many dairies for alleged unfair practices to the detriment of the contributing farmers* The proceedings were initiated following reports by the Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies The Italian Competition Authority (...)

TicketOne fined for €10 million for abuse of dominant position* The group has implemented a complex strategy aimed at precluding competing operators from selling a high number of tickets for live pop music events. Consumers, unable to benefit from better services and lower prices charged by (...)

ICA: investigation launched into contracts for the establishment of FiberCop* Telecom Italia, Fastweb, Teemo Bidco, FiberCop, Tiscali Italia and KKR & Co. under investigation. According to the Authority, developing fibre telecommunication networks is crucial for the country Autorità (...)

ICA: 1.5 million fine to GoFundMe for unfair commercial practices* The fundraising platform has provided misleading information on the absence of costs as to making donations and has preset the commission in its favor with the possibility of modifying it after several steps that are not (...)

A543 - ICA: Benetton under investigation for an alleged abuse of economic dependence in franchising agreements* According to the Authority, the group might have obliged its retailers to maintain a sales structure and a commercial organisation tailored to Benetton’s needs and such as to (...)

ICA: Investigation launched against ANIA regarding the ’fraud detection project’ in non-life and life insurance* The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato initiated an investigation against the Associazione Nazionale fra le Imprese Assicuratrici (ANIA), which originates from a (...)

ICA: sanction of €27 million to Corepla for abuse of dominant position in the recovery of pet plastic packaging* The Authority has found that the consortium has impeded competition and innovation in the services aimed at the recovery and recycling of pet bottles for food use The (...)

A542 - ICA: investigation opened against Google for an alleged abuse of dominant position in the Italian market for display advertising* The Authority questions the discriminatory use of the huge amount of data collected through its various applications, preventing rivals from competing (...)

The Italian Competition Authority turns 30 and presents its 2019 Annual Report* On this occasion, the top management of the Authority, led by the President Roberto Rustichelli, were received by the President of Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, to whom they presented the Report on the (...)

Antitrust: Investigations launched against Google, Apple and Dropbox for their cloud computing services* The proceedings relate to allegedly unfair commercial practices and the possible presence of unfair terms in the contractual conditions The Italian Competition Authority has launched (...)

The Italian Competition Authority welcomes the decision of the Prefecture of Rome to annul the tendering procedure for the assignment of the service of integrated management of the notifications of judicial documents* The Authority had previously sent a reasoned opinion in which it noted (...)

Antitrust: investigation launched against the ferry company Caronte & Tourist* The company is in a dominant position in passenger ferrying in the Strait of Messina The Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato has launched an investigation against the company Caronte & (...)

ICA: investigation launched against Apple and Amazon for banning the sale of Apple- and Beats-branded products to retailers who do not join the official programme* Italian Competition Authority launched an investigation pursuant to Article 101 TFUE against the companies in the Apple Inc. and (...)

C12287 - ICA: acquisition of Ubi Banca by Intesa Sanpaolo authorised with conditions* The Italian Competition Authority authorised with conditions the acquisition of control of Ubi Banca S.p.A. by Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. (hereinafter also ‘ISP’) The Authority noted that the merger (...)

S3904 - ICA: removing obstacles to the development of the ultra-wide bands. Report to Parliament, the Government, AGCOM and ANCI* At the meeting of the 1st July 2020, the Italian Competition Authority [Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato] decided to address a report to the (...)

S3940 - ICA: report to Parliament and the Government on Relaunch Decree issues At the meeting held on the 1st July 2020, the Authority resolved, pursuant to article 21 of Italian Law no. 287/1990, to report certain provisions of Italian Decree Law no. 34 of 19 May 2020 on Urgent measures (...)

I840 - ICA: launch of an investigation into Anica, Anec and Anec Lazio for obstructing the procurement of films, free of charge, by film arenas* The Authority launched an investigation into Associazione Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche Audiovisive e Multimediali (ANICA), Associazione (...)

ICA: investigation launched into Italgas to verify abusive practices in the tender for the gas distribution service in some municipalities in the province of Venice* The Authority has decided to launch an investigation to verify whether Italgas Reti Spa, the current operator under extension (...)

ICA: competitive compatibility verified of the cooperation agreements between businesses for the distribution of masks and the moratorium scheme for consumer credit prepared by Assofin* The Authority has applied for the first time the Communication, approved last April, on cooperation (...)

ICA: Notice on cooperation agreements between businesses within the framework of the coronavirus emergency* Following the crisis caused by the spread of COVID-19 and the needs of the production system to cope with it, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (Italian Competition (...)

PS11734 - ANTITRUST: PROCEEDINGS INITIATED AGAINST THE WWW.WISH.COM PLATFORM* On 31 March, the Authority launched an investigation and opened a sub-proceedings for ordering, if necessary, an interim measure against ContextLogic Inc, the US company that owns the www.wish.com platform and its (...)

Coronavirus, the Authority begins investigating Amazon and eBay for misleading claims and excessive price increases.* The Authority launched two separate investigations today against the Amazon platform (Amazon Italia Customer Service, Amazon Eu, Amazon Service Europe) and eBay platform (...)

ICA: Coronavirus, the Authority intervenes in the sale of sanitizing products and masks* Today the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (the Italian Antitrust Authority) sent a request for information to the main online sales platforms and other sales sites about the marketing of (...)

ICA: investigation opened into an alleged anticompetitive agreement in the transport of fuel and waste to and from the Campanian Archipelago* On 14 January 2020, the Authority opened an investigation against the companies Mediterranea Marittima S.p.a., Servizi Marittimi Liberi Giuffré & (...)

I821 - ICA: tenders for security services. Fine of over 30 million euros for an agreement restricting competition* The Italian Antitrust Authority has closed an investigation finding an anticompetitive agreement between the main companies in the private security sector, Allsystem, (...)

I838 - Antitrust: investigation launched into an anti-competitive arrangement in the battery lead recovery sector* On 3 December 2019, the Italian Competition Authority opened an investigation against COBAT RIPA, COBAT, Fiamm Energy Technology S.p.A., Clarios Italia S.r.l., Eco-bat S.r.l., (...)

Antitrust: The acquisition of control of the business units of AcegasApsAmga S.p.A. by Ascopiave S.p.A. authorized with conditions* On 19 November 2019, the Italian Antitrust Authority authorized, with remedies, the acquisition of control of the business units of AcegasApsAmga S.p.A. by (...)

Antitrust: acquisition of Persidera by Terzo Fondo authorized with remedies* On 12 November 2019, the Authority concluded its investigation, launched on 4 September 2019, to assess the effects on competition of the acquisition of the sole control of Persidera S.p.A. by Terzo Fondo per le (...)

ICA: corrugated cardboard, fines of over €287 million for the main manufacturing companies* On 17 July 2019, the Antitrust Authority concluded an investigation, finding that two separate agreements had been implemented to distort the competitive dynamics in the market for corrugated (...)

Big data: the guidelines and recommendations of policies shared by the three Authorities* The Italian Competition Authority, the Authority for the Communications Guarantees and the Authority for the protection of personal data have published the guidelines and recommendations of policies for (...)

ICA: authorisation with measures of the Sky/R2 merger (branch of Mediaset Premium)* On 20 May 2019, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has concluded its investigation regarding the acquisition of certain assets of the digital terrestrial pay-TV owned by Mediaset Premium S.p.A. by Sky (...)

Abstract: the decision rejects the claim from the parties that the concentration was abandoned and therefore imposed on Sky measures to restore effective competition. Namely, the decision prohibits Sky to acquire new exclusive licenses over content or channels for distribution online for three (...)

ICA: investigation launched against Google for alleged abuse of a dominant position* In the meeting of 8 May 2019, the Italian Competition Authority decided to launch an investigation against Alphabet Inc., Google LLC and Google Italy S.r.l. (indicated together as Google) to ascertain an (...)

ICA: agreement on tenders for the assignment of international rights to football on TV. MP Silva, IMG and B4 Capital fined 67 million Euros* On April 24 the Italian Competition Authority concluded an investigation, ascertaining a violation of art. 101, paragraph 1, of the Treaty on the (...)

Antitrust investigation against Ireti, Italgas Reti and 2i Rete Gas for an alleged abuse of dominant position in the distribution of gas* On 12 March 2019 the ICA (Italian Competition Authority) has opened an investigation to assess whether Ireti Spa, Italgas Reti Spa and 2i Rete Gas Spa - (...)

Car sales through financing: ICA sanctions cartel among leading operators imposing fines of over 670 million euros* On 20 December 2018, the Italian Competition Authority concluded an investigation launched against the leading captive banks and related automotive groups operating in Italy in (...)

Facebook fined 10 million Euros by the ICA for unfair commercial practices for using its subscribers’ data for commercial purposes On 29 November 2018 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA), closed the investigation opened last April for alleged violations of the Consumer Code by Facebook (...)

Investigation initiated against Monte Titoli for possible anti-competitive behaviour in the post-trading sector* On May 9, 2018 the Italian Competition Authority opened an investigation concerning an alleged abuse of dominant position carried out by Monte Titoli – a company belonging to the (...)

Monitoring launched in online hotel booking sector* Monitoring the impact of the new parity clauses in the contracts with online travel agencies by the Italian Competition Authority in partnership with 9 other National Competition Authorities The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM), in (...)

Sector inquiry on vaccines for human use * The Italian Competition Authority has decided to launch a survey on vaccines for human use (ref. IC50). Taking into account (a) the importance of vaccines in terms of health care costs borne by the National Health Service (over € 300 million per (...)

Commitments offered by booking.com: closed the investigation in Italy, France AND Sweden* On 21 April 2015, the Italian Competition Authority has rendered legally binding the commitments offered by Priceline Group’s companies Booking.com BV and Booking.com (Italy) and closed, with respect to (...)

PRIOR NOTIFICATIONS OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: UPDATING OF TURNOVER THRESHOLDS* The Competition Authority has resolved that as from 16 March 2015 the thresholds beyond which prior notification must be submitted for all acquisitions and mergers is raised to 492 million euro for the (...)