Herbert Smith Freehills (London)

Kristien Geeurickx

Herbert Smith Freehills (London)
Professional Support Consultant

Kristien Geeurickx is a Professional Support Consultant at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in the London office. She studied at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, at the Institut Européen, Nice and at UCL (LLM) and specialises in all aspects of EU and UK competition law.

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Herbert Smith Freehills (Melbourne)
Herbert Smith Freehills (London)
Herbert Smith Freehills (Johannesburg)
Herbert Smith Freehills (London)
Herbert Smith Freehills (London)

Articles

21046 Bulletin

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx, Marcel Nuys, Susan Black, Morris Schonberg, Florian Huerkamp The EU Commission adopts its revised Guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements and Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on R&D and Specialisation Agreements

79

On 1 June 2023 the European Commission adopted its revised guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements (Guidelines) together with its revised horizontal block exemption Regulations on R&D and Specialisation Agreements. For an overview of the revised Guidelines see our blog post here. (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Susan Black, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission adopts new Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines and publishes the R&D and Specialization Block Exemption Regulations which introduce a new era for horizontal cooperation in line with the Court of Justice’s and the Commission’s decisional practices

63

Overview of the EU Commission’s Guidance on Information Exchange In June 2023 the European Commission adopted its revised guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements (Guidelines) together with its revised horizontal block exemption Regulations on R&D and Specialisation Agreements. (...)

Stephen Wisking, Susan Black, Veronica Roberts, Kristien Geeurickx, Alexander Rickets The UK Government introduces a Bill before Parliament which would hand new powers to the Competition Authority to regulate digital markets

158

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill (DMCC Bill) has now been published and introduced before Parliament. This Bill is long awaited, having been delayed by parliamentary priorities and timing considerations. Its scope and implications are wide-ranging, and follow on both from a (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Peter Rowland, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission publishes a package of measures aimed at simplifying its merger control procedures in order to reduce the workload and costs of mergers

62

On 20 April 2023 the European Commission published a package of measures aimed at simplifying its merger control procedures under the EU merger Regulation (EUMR). The new measures, which will take effect as of 1 September 2023, aim to streamline and make less burdensome the Commission’s (...)

Susan Black, Kristien Geeurickx, Morris Schonberg The UK Competition Authority publishes draft guidance on sustainability agreements to provide greater certainty for businesses on how competition rules apply to agreements aimed at achieving environmental and sustainability goals

76

On 28 February the CMA published its long-awaited draft guidance on sustainability agreements, setting out the circumstances under which collaboration between competitors aimed at protecting or enhancing sustainability may be compatible with competition law. The aim of the guidance is to (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission blocks the acquisition of a genetics analysis provider by a cancer detection healthcare company (Illumina / Grail)

774

On 6 September 2022 the EU Commission adopted a decision under the EU merger Regulation (EUMR) prohibiting the completed acquisition by Illumina of GRAIL. This is the first time the Commission has examined a transaction below the EUMR thresholds and all national EU Member State thresholds (...)

Veronica Roberts, Kristien Geeurickx, Clémence Barraud The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal sets aside the decision of the Competition Authority on MFC clauses on the grounds that it had not demonstrated any appreciable adverse effects on competition to the requisite legal standard (ComparetheMarket)

105

On 8 August 2022 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) set aside the CMA’s infringement decision in its Compare The Market investigation relating to the use of wide MFN clauses. The CAT concluded that the CMA’s definition of the relevant market in the decision was materially wrong and that (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx The EU General Court endorses the Commission’s revised approach to review transactions below EU and national merger thresholds via Article 22 EUMR referrals (Illumina / Grail)

193

In its judgment of 13 July 2022 the General Court endorsed the EU Commission’s revised approach to Article 22 EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) referrals as set out in its March 2021 Guidance. The case relates to an appeal brought by Illumina against the Commission’s decision to accept the referral (...)

Stephen Wisking, Andrew North, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Supreme Court overturns the ruling of the Court of Appeal on costs in a dispute between the Competition Authority and two pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer / Flynn Pharma)

320

On 25 May 2022 the Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal’s ruling on costs in Pfizer and Flynn Pharma and concluded that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) had applied the correct test when awarding a proportion of their costs against the CMA. The Court of Appeal had held that, (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Marcel Nuys, Kristien Geeurickx, Camille Puech-Baron, Florian Huerkamp, Nika Nonveiller The EU Commission publishes new competition rules for vertical agreements

327

Following a comprehensive review and consultation process, the new revised EU vertical agreements block exemption Regulation (VBER) and Guidelines have now been published and will come into force on 1 June 2022. The Commission’s stated objectives of the review process were to adjust the safe (...)

Stephen Wisking, Veronica Roberts, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Government publishes its response to the consultation proposing a wide range of far-reaching changes to the competition and consumer protection regimes

422

On 20 April 2022 the UK government published its response to the consultation launched in July 2021, proposing a wide range of far-reaching changes to the UK competition and consumer protection regimes (see our blog post on the consultation here). Taking into account the feedback received from (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx, Marcel Nuys, Florian Huerkamp, Susan Black The EU Commission invites comments on its draft revised rules on horizontal cooperation agreements

677

On 1 March 2022 the EU Commission published, for consultation, its draft revised rules on horizontal cooperation agreements. The rules consist of two horizontal block exemption Regulations (covering Research & Development agreements and Specialisation agreements) and Guidelines on the (...)

Peter Rowland, Kristien Geeurickx, Kyriakos Fountoukakos The EU Commission reviews its guidelines on vertical restraints within the broader context of the review of the Vertical Block Exemption regulation

786

The European Commission (“Commission”) is currently reviewing its Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (“Vertical Guidelines”) within the broader context of the review of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and consulted on its proposals last year. It has now launched a further (...)

Stephen Wisking, Sean Giles, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Authority initiates proceedings in the High Court seeking the disqualification of seven directors in connection with its decision on illegal market sharing arrangements for the supply of Prochlorperazine tablets (Alliance Pharmaceuticals / Focus / Lexon / Medreich)

66

Through a pattern of recent enforcement action, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") has sent a clear message to business: it will not hesitate to hold senior management personally liable for competition law infringements. As a matter of policy the CMA is increasingly determined to (...)

Veronica Roberts, Tim Briggs, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Government releases the National Security and Investment Act, introducing a new foreign direct investment regime with standalone powers for the review of FDI

354

On 4 January 2022 the UK National Security and Investment (NSI) Act enters into force, introducing a new foreign direct investment (FDI) regime with standalone powers for the review of FDI in the UK. The new regime replaces the existing public interest merger regime provisions of the (...)

Kim Dietzel, Stephen Wisking, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Court of Justice holds that a victim of anticompetitive conduct is entitled to seek damages from the subsidiary of an infringing parent company (Sumal / Mercedes Benz Trucks España)

221

In its judgment of 6 October 2021, following a reference by the Provincial Court of Barcelona, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that a victim of anti-competitive conduct is entitled to seek damages from the subsidiary (not referred to in the infringement decision) of an infringing (...)

Stephen Wisking, Kim Dietzel, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal approves the first application for a collective proceedings order under the competition class action regime (Merricks / Mastercard)

300

On 18 August 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) approved the first application for a collective proceedings order (CPO) under the UK’s competition class action regime introduced in 2015, in Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Incorporated and Others. The application was initially (...)

Stephen Wisking, Veronica Roberts, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Government launches a consultation on a wide range of far-reaching changes it is proposing to the UK competition and consumer protection regimes

400

On 20 July 2021 the UK government launched a consultation on a wide range of far-reaching changes it is proposing to the UK competition and consumer protection regimes. As a result of Brexit the UK is now in a position to decide, independently from the EU Commission, how it promotes and (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Florian Huerkamp, Kristien Geeurickx, Marcel Nuys, Daniel Vowden, Susan Black The EU Commission publishes drafts of revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and Vertical Guidelines

887

On 9 July 2021, following a comprehensive consultation process, the EU Commission (Commission) published its proposals for a revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (Draft VBER) and Draft Vertical Guidelines, due to replace the current regime which expires on 31 May 2022. The previous (...)

Veronica Roberts, Susan Black, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Authority publishes consultation on its proposed recommendations to the Government on the future of the retained vertical agreements block exemption regulation

400

On 17 June 2021 the CMA published a consultation on its proposed recommendations to the Secretary of State on the future of the retained vertical agreements block exemption Regulation (VBER). At the end of the Brexit transition period the EU VBER became retained EU law in the UK, until its (...)

Veronica Roberts, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal confirms the Competition Authority’s broad approach to the share of supply test resulting in the decision to block the merger between two software suppliers in a first case where the cartelist’s fine is reduced due to implementing a compliance program (Sabre / Farelogix)

245

In its judgment of 21 May 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) upheld the CMA’s approach in applying the share of supply test to assert jurisdiction over Sabre’s acquisition of Farelogix, (with the CMA ultimately prohibiting the transaction following an in-depth investigation). The CAT (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Mark Jephcott, Marcel Nuys, Sergio Sorinas, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission publishes guidance on article 22 referrals for transactions falling below national thresholds

631

On 26 March 2021 the EU Commission (Commission) published revised guidance on the referral mechanism set out in Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR), under which the Commission will now accept referrals from Member States for deals that fall below the domestic jurisdictional (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Sebastien Moore, Peter Rowland, Kristien Geeurickx, Agathe Célarié The EU Court of Justice dismisses the appeals of several manufacturers of medicines and upholds the Commission’s decision regarding a pay-for-delay infringement (Lundbeck)

716

On 25 March 2021, the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) dismissed the appeals by Lundbeck and five producers of generic medicines against the General Court’s (GC) judgments that upheld the Commission’s decision and the fines it had imposed in its first pay-for-delay infringement decision in (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Sebastien Moore, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission investigates for the first time a case relating to divisional patent filing and litigation strategies in the pharmaceutical sector (Teva)

744

On 4 March 2021 the EU Commission announced it has launched a formal investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct by pharmaceutical company Teva in relation to its blockbuster drug Copaxone, which is used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The patent for the active ingredient in (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Max Kaufman, Kristien Geeurickx, Agathe Célarié The EU Commission accepts the commitment offered by a pharmaceutical company to reduce drug prices by 73% (Aspen)

243

“When the price of a drug suddenly goes up by several hundred percent, this is something the Commission may look at” Commissioner Vestager said when opening a formal investigation into Aspen’s alleged excessive pricing conduct in May 2017. On 10 February 2021, the EU Commission (Commission) (...)

Kim Dietzel, Stephen Wisking, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Authority publishes a notice of a standalone competition damages claim against a trade association for abusing its dominant position and engaging in anti-competitive agreements (International Tin Association)

359

On 26 January 2021 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) published a notice of a standalone competition damages claim (brought under section 47A of the Competition Act 1998) by Kerilee Investments, a metal trader, against the International Tin Association, a UK based trade association. The (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Mark Jephcott, Veronica Roberts, Daniel Vowden, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Government and the EU Commission agree on a trade and cooperation act detailing the applicability of both merger control regimes after Brexit

177

On 1 January 2021, with the end of the Brexit transition period, the UK entered the real world of Brexit. This has immediate implications for merger control both in the UK and the EU. Any companies involved in deals need to be aware of the impact. As of 1 January 2021 the EU Merger (...)

Veronica Roberts, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Kristien Geeurickx, Christon Shenolikar The EU General Court annuls the Commission’s decision prohibiting an oligopolistic merger between two mobile network operators in the telecommunication sector on the basis that it did not result in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position (Telefónica UK / Hutchison 3G UK)

655

On 28 May 2020 the General Court handed down its ruling in CK Telecoms UK Investment Ltd v European Commission (Case T-399/16) in which it annulled the EU Commission’s decision which prohibited the proposed acquisition by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd (Hutchison) of Telefónica Europe plc (O2). The (...)

Veronica Roberts, Daniel Vowden, Ruth Allen, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Authority announces its provisional clearance of a proposed acquisition of a stake in a food delivery company in its first application of “failing firm” defence during the COVID-19 pandemic (Amazon / Deliveroo)

2116

On 17 April 2020 the CMA announced its provisional clearance of Amazon’s proposed acquisition of a stake in Deliveroo. The transaction was referred for an in-depth Phase 2 investigation in December 2019, in light of concerns about the impact on competition for the supply of online restaurant (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Stephen Wisking, André Pretorius, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission publishes a Temporary Framework for assessing antitrust issues relating to business cooperation as a response to the urgency stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic

489

On 8 April 2020 the Commission published a ‘Temporary framework for assessing antitrust issues related to business cooperation in response to situations of urgency stemming from the current COVID-19 outbreak’ (Temporary Framework). The Commission recognises the exceptional challenges faced by (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Stephen Wisking, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Government provides a withdrawal agreement for the Competition Authority’s merger control during the Brexit transition period and after

75

On 31 January 2020, at 11pm GMT, the UK ceased to be a Member State of the EU and the transition period provided for in Article 126 of the Withdrawal Agreement started to run. This briefing looks at the provisions in the Withdrawal Agreement that are relevant for merger control, both during (...)

Stephen Wisking, Susan Black, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Authority disqualifies three former directors of companies involved in a bid rigging cartel in the design, construction and fit-out services market (Robb Simms-Davies / Trevor Hall / Oliver James Hammond)

117

On 10th May 2019 the CMA secured the disqualification of three former directors of companies involved in a bid rigging cartel in the design, construction and fit-out services sector. The three directors have given legally binding disqualification undertakings under which they will be banned (...)

Stephen Wisking, Kim Dietzel, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Court of Appeal overturns the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s refusal to certify a collective action claim (MasterCard / Merricks)

19

In its judgment of 16 April 2019 the Court of Appeal overturned the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) decision refusing certification in the MasterCard collective action claim and remitted the case back to the CAT for a re-hearing. The CAT’s refusal to certify the claim and grant a (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Kristien Geeurickx, Stephen Wisking The EU Court of Justice holds that the principles applied in order to determine the relevant entities for liability for fines should also be applied to determine the relevant entities liable for damages under private damages claims (Vantaan kaupunki / Skanska)

150

In a preliminary ruling request made by the Finnish Supreme Court on the question of the relevant entities liable for damages, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) held that principles applied in order to determine the relevant entities for liability for fines under Articles 101 and 102 TFEU (...)

Stephen Wisking, Veronica Roberts, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Kristien Geeurickx The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal upholds the Competition Authority’s first infringement decision for breach of an interim order in a merger investigation (Electro Rent)

115

On 11 February 2019 the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) upheld the CMA’s first infringement decision for breach of an interim order imposed on a completed merger under investigation. Electro Rent had served a break notice on the lease of its UK premises without first seeking the CMA’s (...)

Stephen Wisking, Kristien Geeurickx, Kyriakos Fountoukakos The EU General Court confirms that a bank investor was jointly and severally liable for the conduct of one of the cartelists (Goldman Sachs)

78

The General Court’s ruling in Goldman Sachs’ appeal in the power cables cartel confirms that the bank was jointly and severally liable for the conduct of Prysmian, one of the cartelists, because of the nature of its investment in the company. The General Court confirmed that the Commission was (...)

Stephen Wisking, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Court of Justice provides guidance on the standstill obligation which prevents parties from implementing their transaction before the EU Commission issues a clearance decision (EY / KPMG)

95

For the first time since the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) came into force the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has provided guidance on the scope the standstill obligation (Article 7(1) EUMR) which prevents parties implementing their transaction before the EU Commission issues a clearance (...)

Kristien Geeurickx The UK Supreme Court finds that the OFT did not act unlawfully in failing to repay fines imposed on tobacco manufacturers as part of a retail pricing investigation’s settlement (Gallaher / Somerfield)

81

The Supreme Court has found that the OFT (the CMA’s predecessor) did not act unlawfully in failing to repay fines imposed on Gallaher and Somerfield as part of their settlement of the OFT’s tobacco retail pricing investigation. This was the case despite there being: a successful appeal against (...)

Kristien Geeurickx The EU Commission fines a multinational cable and telecoms company €124.5M for having implemented its acquisition prior to notifying the transaction and receiving clearance (Altice / PT Portugal)

90

The EU Commission has imposed a fine of €124.5 million on Altice, a multinational cable and telecoms company, for having implemented its acquisition of Portuguese telecoms operator PT Portugal prior to notifying the transaction and receiving clearance under the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR), (...)

Kristien Geeurickx The EU Court of Justice refers back to the General Court a case for it to examine the factual and economic evidence and to establish whether the rebates at issue are capable of restricting competition (Intel)

88

In its long awaited judgment on Intel’s appeal against the General Court’s ruling that its rebate scheme was inherently anticompetitive and that there was no need to consider the circumstances of the case, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has today referred the case back to (...)

Kyriakos Fountoukakos, André Pretorius, Sergio Sorinas, Kristien Geeurickx The EU Court of Justice AG Wahl opts for a more effect-based approach on rebates and proposes an annulment of the EU General Court’s judgment (Intel)

107

In Intel’s appeal against the General Court’s judgement of June 2014 (which upheld the Commission’s decision that Intel abused its dominant position by virtue of operating exclusivity rebate schemes – see here for our e-bulletin on the judgment), Advocate General Wahl recommends that the Court (...)

André Pretorius, Henar González Durántez, Kristien Geeurickx, Kyriakos Fountoukakos, Michael Dietrich, Sergio Sorinas The EU Court of Justice rules on issues concerning retroactive rebates and the procedures through which these rebates can be characterized as abusive (Post Danmark II)

371

This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Introduction On 6 October 2015, the European Court of Justice (the Court) issued its preliminary ruling in Post Danmark A/S v Konkurrencerådet (Competition (...)

Kristien Geeurickx, Kyriakos Fountoukakos The EU Court of Justice considers that the bilateral exchange of pre-pricing informations to a concerted practice with the object of restricting competition is an anticompetitive practice (Dole)

410

This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. In its ruling of 19 March 2015 (Case C-286/13P) relating to the banana cartel, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) dismissed the appeal by banana importer (...)

Kristien Geeurickx, Kyriakos Fountoukakos The EU Court of Justice dismisses pharmaceutical company’s appeal against the Commission and EU General Courts’ findings that it abused its dominant position by misusing patent systems and pharmaceutical marketing procedures to exclude generic competitors from the market and restrict parallel imports (AstraZeneca)

1560

1. Introduction The Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) has dismissed AstraZeneca’s appeal against the Commission’s and General Court’s findings that the company abused its dominant position under Article 102 TFEU by misusing the patent system and pharmaceutical marketing procedures in order to (...)

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