Karine Biancone

In the "bagged flour" case, the Competition Authority had sanctioned several cartel practices, including the limitation of flour imports between France and Germany (grievance no. 1 of decision no. 12-D-09 of March 13, 2012). The Court of Appeal had essentially confirmed the decision (Paris, 4 (...)

Facts The Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (hereinafter CSTB) is a public industrial and commercial establishment, which carries out scientific research activities in the field of construction and housing, represents France in the European Organisation for Technical Approval (...)

Facts. Following an investigation by the DGCCRF into the market for premium teas, the Competition Authority took up, ex officio in 2018, firstly, practices involving the imposition of resale prices for products online by Dammann Frères, a supplier, with some of its distributors, and, secondly, (...)

Facts. In a sector, that of franchising, where the law on anti-competitive practices recognises the legality of restrictive clauses intended to maintain the common identity and reputation of the network, the law on practices restricting competition considers as suspect the common contractual (...)

In view of the growing share of online sales in the distribution of products and services, the CCLA shows its determination to control tariff and non-tariff restrictions put in place by manufacturers and their distributor customers. This case is an interesting illustration of this in practice (...)

Eight years after its Opinion No. 12-A-20 of 18 September 2012 on the competitive functioning of e-commerce, the Competition Authority publishes an exciting study dedicated to the impact of e-commerce on competition policy. It shows that the application of competition rules is evolving in line (...)

Facts. As part of a project to join the "La Pataterie" franchise, an entrepreneur who had been, in a personal capacity, manager of a restaurant and then director of a MACDonald’s for 7 years, had met three "La Pataterie" franchisees and participated in a franchise discovery day, and had been (...)

Facts. A Czech company acting as an independent intermediary for the purchase abroad of motor vehicles of the Subaru and Daihatsu brands, on behalf of end customers in the Czech Republic, had filed two consecutive complaints against the manufacturer Subaru on the basis of Articles 101 and 102 (...)

Facts. Two listing centres, one of which brings together members specialising in the garden centre-animal sector (the "Centrale jardinerie"), and the other in the DIY sector (the "Centrale bricolage"), decide to join forces by signing a three-year contract, with the aim of cooperating in order (...)

58 million for having implemented, between October 2010 and January 2014, a horizontal agreement aimed at manipulating the prices of fruit compote sold to private label supermarkets and out-of-home catering distributors and at sharing customers and volumes for these same products. Under the (...)

EZ Metrology (hereinafter the "supplier"), a company specializing in dimensional metrology for the automotive industry, was assigned by its former exclusive distributor in connection with various grievances relating to the termination of the distribution contract. Two points will be dealt (...)

The Hungarian Supreme Court referred questions to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling in a case concerning the setting of a multilateral interchange fee (MIF) paid by acquiring banks to credit card issuing banks, between 22 banks and the credit card companies, Mastercard Europe SA and Visa Europe (...)

The Cooper Company (hereinafter "Cooper") markets pharmaceutical specialties. It had constructed a categorical pricing policy that was more advantageous for dispensing pharmacies and their groupings than for wholesalers. Pyxis Pharma (’Pyxis’), which has the status of a purchasing grouping (...)

A company (hereinafter the "Affiliate") has entered into an affiliation agreement with a central purchasing office (hereinafter the "Office"), expressly mandating it to negotiate on its behalf the terms and conditions of purchases from suppliers of food products, to communicate these terms and (...)

Open-ended dealership agreements will be signed in 2011 between N (dealer) and Automobiles Peugeot (grantor) for the distribution and after-sales service of Peugeot vehicles from the Paris (17th), Asnières, Chambly and Saint-Brie sites. They provided for incentive bonuses (relating to the rate (...)

In a case in which a tobacconist had sold his business without imposing on his purchaser the continuation of a contract for the supply of drinks concluded for 5 years, and who was assigned in payment of a termination indemnity by his supplier, the Court of Appeal of Reims ruled that "it (...)

The company Schwarzkopf (hereinafter "Schwarzkopf" or "the supplier"), which markets hairdressing products, enters into a partnership agreement with the company Pascal Coste and its subsidiary New Line (hereinafter "Pascal Coste" or the "distributor"), at the head of a network of franchised (...)

By Decision No 18-D-23 of 24 October 2018, the ADLC had penalised companies in the Stihl group (hereinafter Stihl), which market chainsaws and other brushcutters, for having included in their selective distribution contracts a clause requiring the distributor to hand-deliver the product to the (...)

Under the terms of a sale agreement dated March 30, 2007, the shareholders of KADEOS, including FNAC and CONFORAMA HOLDING, sold the entire share capital of KADEOS to Accor Services through its subsidiary ACCENTIV’HOUSE. At the same time, KADEOS and ACCENTIV’HOUSE, which have since merged (...)

The Pre-Contractual Disclosure Document (PCD), which is an indispensable prerequisite for the conclusion of a franchise agreement, has always given rise to an abundance of case law. The judgment under comment deals with the obligation to provide the PID in the event of renewal of the contract (...)

Consumer law is multi-faceted. In addition to its primary function of protecting the consumer deemed to be the "weaker party" to the contract, it is a formidable tool for regulating the market with regard to unfair competition actions. Such is the case in the dispute between the French (...)

Financial penalties and mitigating circumstances for "single-product" companies: when the ADLC plays the spoilsport* In the process of individualizing the fine, the ADLC may reduce the amount of the fine to take into account the fact that the undertaking concerned conducts most of its (...)

The General Court of the European Union validates selective repair systems in the Swiss watch sector with regard to the competition rules* The Confédération Européenne des Associations d’Horlogers-Réparateurs (CEAHR), sought the annulment of the Commission’s decision of 29 July 2014 having (...)

Compensation for anti-competitive practices: a different action for every refusal to sell!* On the national market of spark plugs for two wheels, the company SIFAM wished to be approved to distribute the spark plugs manufactured by the Japanese world leader, the company NGK. The (...)

Abuse of dominant position and denigration by denouncing a regulatory non-compliance in the dairy products sector* Denigration, classically considered from the angle of unfair competition, is increasingly apprehended by competition law under the prism of abuse of dominant position (C. com., (...)

Anti-competitive practice: the personal nature of the parent company’s liability and the refusal to extend the benefit of the statute of limitations to its subsidiaries* Competition law considers "the undertaking", a concept that is not confused with that of legal personality (CJEU 20 Jan. (...)

Contractual adjustment of the starting point for payment periods between professionals in the light of two opinions issued by the CEPC* Although the fight against late payment has been a major concern of successive governments since the LME Act of 4 August 2008, it has to be said that the (...)

[Cour d’Appel de Paris, pôle 5, chambre 5-7, 23 February 2010, RG n° 2009/05544, Sté SNCF c/ Sté Expedia] Facts The SNCF operates the railway network, soon to be opened to competition for passengers, but also downstream markets, such as the marketing of tickets and holidays, notably (...)

Concordant Aut. 25 February 2010, Q&A on the protection of business secrets CA Paris, 26 January 2010, Adecco France and others v Randstad, RG n°2009/0352 Cass. com, 2 February 2010, Appeal No. 08-70.449. Cass. com, 2 February 2010, Appeal No. 08-70.450. Cass. com, 2 February 2010, (...)

Court of Justice of the European Communities, 6 October 2009, Joined Cases C-501/06 P, C-513/06 P, C-515/06 P and C-519/06 P Facts Under the former Council Regulation No 17, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) notified to the European Commission, and then sent to its Spanish wholesalers, on 6 March (...)

Autorité de la concurrence, letter n° 09-DCC-23 of July 23, 2009 relating to the change of the name of points of sale under the Veti banner to the Kiabi banner. Facts KIABI has notified the French Competition Authority of a project to combine one hundred and two sales outlets operated (...)

Court of Cassation, Criminal Division, 20 May 2009, Appeal No. 07-86437, Sté Schering-Plough Facts SCHERING-PLOUGH was visited and seized twice on January 18 and 19, 2007 at its premises, at the request of the DGCCRF, following authorization by order of the Nanterre liberty and detention (...)

Paris Court of Appeal, 29 April 2009, RG n° 2008/11907, Sté Philips France Facts A retailer of consumer electronics products had filed a complaint with the Competition Board, alleging that its suppliers were charging suggested prices that constituted an anti-competitive agreement. In (...)

Decree No. 2009-311 of 20 March 2009 Pursuant to Article L. 450-5 of the French Commercial Code, as amended by the order of November 13, 2008, the Decree relating to "the time limits available to the Competition Authority to take the lead in the investigations requested by the Minister of (...)

Commission Communication 2009/C 45/02 on guidance on the Commission’s priorities for the application of Article 82 of the EC Treaty to abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings Notice 2009/C 45/02 sets out the European Commission’s guidance on its priorities in applying EC Treaty (...)

CA Paris, February 4, 2009, Apple Sales International, Apple Inc, France Telecom SA, Orange France SA v/ Bouygues Telecom SA Facts The Apple company, already at the origin of the IPod, a highly successful MP3 player, and the online music store Itunes Music Store, has launched a mobile (...)

Cass. soc., 21 January 2009, Vaissière et fils v/ Caisse des congés payés du bâtiment de la région Languedoc-Roussillon, appeal No. 07-12.411 Facts A regional paid holiday fund for the building industry, claiming that a company specialising in the manufacture and marketing of industrial (...)

Guidelines on non-horizontal concentrations On 28 November 2007, the European Commission adopted its Guidelines on the assessment of non-horizontal mergers.

Order n°2008-1161 of 13 November 2008 The new treatment of anti-competitive practices under French law following the adoption of Order 2008-1161 of 13 November 2008 on the modernisation of competition regulation Following the proposals of the report of the Commission for the Liberation of (...)

Court of Cassation, Commercial Chamber, 4 November 2008, Appeal No. 07-21.275, Sté Canal 9 v GIE Les indépendants Facts A company operating a local radio station had denounced to the Competition Council the practices implemented by an EIG whose purpose was to market the advertising space (...)

Commission Notice on remedies acceptable under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 and under Commission Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 Regulation 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings provides that the European Commission may take a decision declaring a concentration (...)

A new text amending Regulation (EC) No 802/2004 implementing Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Its purpose is to update the notification form used for mergers; to clarify the (...)

Court of First Instance of the European Communities, 8 July 2008, Case T-99/04, AC-Treuhand AG v Commission Facts Three producers had set up a cartel on the European organic peroxide market to preserve their market share and coordinate their price increases. In order to ensure the proper (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 8-D-13, 11 June 2008, on practices in the routine maintenance of premises Facts An HLM office had organised a call for tenders for the cleaning of the common areas of the buildings. Two companies were accused of having agreed on the price and structure of (...)

Court of Cassation, Commercial Chamber, 3 June 2008, Appeals No. 07-17.147 and No. 07-17.196, Sony France and Philips France Facts In a decision of December 5, 2005, the Competition Council sanctioned suppliers of consumer electronics products for having implemented an anti-competitive (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 08-D-12, 21 May 2008, concerning practices in the plywood production sector. Facts Plywood manufacturers had established a common pricing structure to determine the rates charged by each manufacturer for the marketing of their products, with the (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 08-D-08, April 29, 2008, concerning practices implemented in the sector of publishing and sale of tourism monographs A publisher of books on historical monuments reproached its main distributor, the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN), for no longer (...)

Court of Cassation, Commercial Chamber, 8 April 2008, Appeal No. 07-16.485, Casino et SDO v. Minister of the Economy Facts In a decision dated December 19, 2005, the French Competition Council sanctioned a publisher, a wholesaler and two retailers forming an economic interest group (EIG) (...)

Order of Minister of Economy, Finance and Employment of 28 January 2008 on the absence of notification of a concentration consisting of a control Facts In October and November 2006, a company purchased securities of a company in which it was previously a minority shareholder. At that time, (...)

Court of First Instance of the European Communities, Fourth Chamber, 11 July 2007, Case T-170/06, Alrosa Company Ltd v Commission of the European Communities Facts A contract for the supply of rough diamonds has been concluded for a period of five years between Alrosa, the world’s (...)

Consolidated Jurisdictional Communication of the Commission of 10 July 2007 The European Commission adopted on 10 July 2007 a Jurisdictional Notice under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings. This consolidated Notice replaces the four 1998 (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 07-D-21, 26 June 2007, Linen rental and maintenance sector The Competition Council has sanctioned companies in the linen rental and maintenance sector for having implemented an anti-competitive agreement vis-à-vis their "key account" customers. These (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 07-D-16, 9 May 2007, GIE Farmers’ organisations were prosecuted for having drawn up, within an inter-branch commission, and circulated to cereal collectors a price scale encouraging the alignment of tariffs for maize drying services. The Competition (...)

Conseil de la concurrence, 20 October 2006, decision n°06-D-31, Société Finegee c/ groupe Heineken France Boissons Facts The Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance had authorised a concentration in the beer distribution sector, subject to the notifying party divesting three of its (...)

Facts In France, driving a taxi is subject to the possession of a professional licence. This license can be : Issued free of charge by a local authority (Mayor or Prefect), which "has several disadvantages [such as] an often very long [waiting list or the fact that] the legislation (...)

Paris Court of Appeal, Room 1, Section H, 26 September 2006, No. 2005/24285, Hôtel Le Bristol company and others Facts Following a report on the programme "Capital" on channel M6, during which it was reported that the sales managers of Parisian palaces were meeting regularly to share (...)

The European Commission has drawn up Guidelines setting out the general methodology it applies in setting fines. The Commission published guidelines in 1998. New Guidelines were issued in June 2006 following the entry into force of Procedural Regulation 1/2003 . These new guidelines were (...)

Conseil d’Etat, Order of 25 July 2006, No. 294897, Société France Antilles. Facts On 17 May 2006, the Minister of the Economy authorised, pursuant to article L. 430-5 of the French Commercial Code, the Est Républicain group to acquire from Socpresse, in partnership with Banque Fédérative (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 06-MC-02, 27 June 2006, Bouc Bel Air (Bouches-du-Rhône) Facts In order to deter the entry of competitors on the public market for the management of crèches in the commune of Bouc Bel Air (Bouches-du-Rhône), which was to be put out to tender, the (...)

Paris Court of Appeal, 5th Chamber, Section A, February 1, 2006, Société De Neuville v. SARL Seznec Facts In 1992, Société de confiserie-chocolaterie De Neuville entered into a franchise agreement for the distribution of its products with the company Seznec. In 1998, the franchisee, (...)

Decree No. 2005-1668 of 27 December 2005 The text inserts into the 2002 Decree a new Article 36-1 specifying the procedures for the application of Article L. 463-4 of the Commercial Code relating to business secrecy in the context of proceedings before the Competition Council. It is stated (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 05-D-63, 17 November 2005, Datapost v La Poste Facts La Poste has granted discounts to certain senders without the necessary conditions being met. In addition, Datapost, a subsidiary of La Poste, received an arbitrary and abnormally high discount rate (...)

Guidelines on Merger Control, 15 July 2005 The DGCCRF published its guidelines on merger control on 15 July. These guidelines analyse not only the substantive rules applicable in this area, but also the procedural rules. To this end, the DGCCRF has drawn on the decision-making practice of (...)

Court of Cassation, Opinion No. 0050006, 11 July 2005 Facts Following a complaint lodged by Pompes funérabres privées marbrerie Lamotte et fils against practices implemented in the Val de Marne by Pompes funérabres générales, now O.G.F., the Competition Council (the Council) notified the (...)

Competition Council, Decision No. 05-S-02 of March 18, 2005, Yvert & Tellier Facts Yvert & Tellier, a publisher of stamp quotation catalogues, has developed a numbering system that acts as a de facto standard for the quotation and trading of stamps. In November 2004, a (...)

Since 1996, the European Commission has granted immunity or conditional reductions of fines to companies which, by providing information, have facilitated the Commission’s detection and investigation of violations of the competition rules. The cooperation of the companies concerned with the (...)

has amended Article L. 430-3 paragraph 1 of the French Commercial Code. While Article L. 430-3 paragraph 1 of the French Commercial Code provided that the notification of a concentration should be made "when the party or parties concerned [are irrevocably] committed, and in particular after (...)

Conseil de la concurrence, Decision No. 04-D-65 of 30 November 2004 concerning practices implemented by La Poste in the context of its commercial contract. Facts On 10 April 2001, the Minister of the Economy and Finance referred the matter to the Competition Council, which had issued (...)

Order No. 2004-1173 of 4 November 2004 Ordinance No. 2004-1173 of 4 November 2004 adapting certain provisions of the Commercial Code to Community competition law was adopted pursuant to Article 2 of Law No. 2004-237 of 18 March 2004 empowering the Government to transpose Community directives (...)

Although intellectual property legislation grants exclusive exploitation rights, these are not outside the scope of competition law. Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty on the prohibition of cartels and abuses of dominant position are applicable to agreements whereby the licensor licenses his (...)

Article 25 of Order 2004-274 of 25 March 2004(1) provides that "In the third paragraph of Article L. 420-2 of the French Commercial Code, the words "15 million euros" are replaced by the words "50 million euros". This order modifies the national threshold for the control of a concentration. (...)

Article 24 of Order No 2004-274 (1 ) introduces into French law a mechanism establishing sensitivity thresholds for an anti-competitive cartel comparable to that instigated by the European Commission in the ’de minimis’ notice (2 ). This mechanism complements the dismissal mechanism referred (...)

Faits La réduction du temps de travail aux trente-cinq heures ayant entraîné une augmentation des charges professionnelles supportées par les boulangers, le président de la Fédération départementale de la boulangerie de la Marne a alors incité, lors d’une assemblée générale le 23 avril 2001 (...)