Martin Favart

New guidelines of the Belgian Competition Authority (the “BCA”) on the calculation of fines (the “Fining Guidelines”) were published on 25 May 2020 in the Belgian Official Journal. The Fining Guidelines replace the Guidelines on the calculation of fines adopted in 2014 by the BCA. The new (...)

On 22 May 2020, new Leniency Guidelines (the “2020 Guidelines”) adopted by the Belgian Competition Authority (the “BCA”) were published in the Belgian Official Journal. The 2020 Guidelines replace the 2016 Leniency Guidelines and lay down the conditions to obtain total or partial immunity from (...)

On 30 April 2020, the European Commission (the “Commission”) issued three implementing regulations temporarily relaxing the scope of competition law rules in three agricultural sectors severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. By way of context, Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of 17 December (...)

On 8 April 2020, the Commission published a Temporary Framework to assess possible forms of business cooperation in response to the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, the Temporary Framework seeks to provide guidance to companies considering cooperation in (...)

On 3 April 2020, the Commission launched a six-week consultation on its roadmap for the review of the 1997 Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law (the “Market Definition Notice”). Overall, the review aims at determining whether the Market (...)

On 23 March 2020, the European Competition Network (ECN), which includes the European Commission and the national competition authorities of the EU (NCAs), issued a statement on the application of competition law during the Corona crisis (the “Statement”). The ECN explains that it (...)

On 11 February 2020, the Italian and Brazilian competition authorities signed a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (the “Memorandum”) aimed at strengthening cooperation between the two authorities and at increasing their capacity to deal with market failures, anticompetitive practices and (...)

On 10 February 2020, the Italian Competition Authority, the Authority for Communications Guarantees and the Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (together the “Authorities”) published a joint investigative report on big data (the “Report”). The Report is based on a one-year survey (...)

On 7 February 2020, the Regional Court of Munich (the “Court”) dismissed a follow-on claim for damages brought by litigation vehicle Financial right, a registered legal services company. The claim followed a 2016 fining decision of the European Commission (the “Commission”) against (...)

On 28 January 2020, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) published guidance to explain how it will conduct its work during the transition period as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU (the “Guidance”). The Withdrawal Agreement ratified between the UK and the EU details the (...)

On 28 January 2020, the German Federal Court of Justice (“FCJ”) overruled a judgment of the Thuringian Higher Regional Court (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2017, No. 6) concerning a follow-on damages claim. The claim followed a 2013 fining decision of the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”), (...)

On 24 January 2020, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy published an update of its draft 10th amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (the “ARC”), officially called the “ARC Digitization Act”. Compared to the initial draft (see VBB on Competition Law, (...)

On 17 January 2019, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) published a new study on behavioural remedies in competition law. The study is available on the FCA’s web- site in both French and English. The assessment was carried out by comparing behavioural commitments to structural (...)

On 10 January 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”) published a report on the UK’s current regulatory environment and its effect on competition (the “Report”). The Report indicates that existing regulation poses potentially large risks to competition and may well be skewed (...)

On 12 December 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) delivered a judgment on a request for a preliminary ruling from the Austrian Supreme Court (C-435/18, Otis and Others v. Land Oberösterreich and Others). The request was made in the context of a compensation claim brought (...)

On 6 November 2019, the French and German competition authorities presented their joint study on algorithms and competition at a conference in Paris. The study recognises algorithms as one of the “most important technological drivers of the ongoing digitalization process” but also identifies a (...)

On 2 October 2019, the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg competition authorities took the unusual step of adopting a joint memorandum on the role of the competition authorities in a digital world. This joint memorandum discusses merger control issues, the need for guidance in fast-moving digital (...)

On 29 July 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “ECJ”) handed down a judgment in which it held that a domestic court in an EU Member State has jurisdiction to rule on a follow-on competition damages claim even when no direct contractual link exists between the participant to a (...)

In their call for changes to EU merger control and State aid rules, the French and German Ministries for Economic Affairs have been joined by their Polish counterpart. On 4 July 2019, they published a joint paper (available here) containing a number of suggestions for a reform of competition (...)

On 27 June 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its annual report 2018 and biannual activity report 2017/2018. The reports include statistics on the total amounts of fines, leniency applications and merger pro-ceedings, describe the FCO’s policies and the key cases which (...)

On 16 April 2019, the UK Court of Appeal ruled that the Competition Appeal Tribunal (“CAT”) had incorrectly refused to certify a major collective action brought against Mastercard. The collective action seeks approximately GBP 14 billion in damages on behalf of an estimated 46.2 million (...)

On 9 April 2019, the General Court (“GC”) dismissed the appeal lodged by Qualcomm against the Commission’s decision of 31 March 2017 requesting information in the context of an investigation against Qualcomm for alleged predatory pricing contrary to Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning (...)

On 4 April 2019, the European Commission published a special report commissioned by Commissioner Margrethe Vestager on how competition policy should evolve to continue promoting pro-consumer innovation in the digital age (“Competition Policy for the Digital Era”). The report is grounded in (...)

On 28 March 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) ruled on a preliminary reference from a Portuguese court on the scope of the Portuguese limitation period in light of Directive 2014/104 on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of (...)

On 19 February 2019, the French Minister of Economy, Mr Bruno Le Marie, and the German Minister of Economy, Mr Peter Altmaier, published a joint manifesto which calls for the development of a European industrial policy to ensure the global competitiveness of European manufacturing industries. (...)

On 12 February 2019, the EU General Court (“GC”) awarded € 184,592.95 in damages to envelopes producer Printeos in view of the European Commission’s failure to pay default interest when repaying a cartel fine which had previously been annulled by the GC. In 2014, following a settlement (...)

On 4 February 2019, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published a fifth paper in its series “Competition and Consumer Protection in the Digital Economy”. The paper summarizes the sector inquiry into online comparison websites in the travel, energy, insurance, telecommunications and (...)

On 28 January 2019, the European Commission adopted a report on competition enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector between 2009 and 2017. The report provides an overview on the enforcement of antitrust and merger rules in the pharmaceutical sector and describes how competition law (...)

On 13 December 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) delivered three judgments on separate appeals brought against judgments of the General Court (“GC”) by Gascogne Sack Deutschland (“Gascogne”), Kendrion and Plasticos Españoles (together with its parent company Armando (...)

On 12 December 2018, the European Commission (“Commission”) published two new guidance documents facilitating access to the Commission’s files by undertakings subject to antitrust proceedings. These documents are part of the Commission’s efforts to increase the transparency of competition (...)

On 17 September 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Free Trade Association States (the “EFTA Court”) handed down its judgment in Nye Kystlink AS v Color Group AS and Color Line, Case E-10/17, answering preliminary questions asked by Norway’s Borgarting Court of Appeal (Borgarting (...)

On 5 July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) rendered a preliminary ruling on territorial jurisdiction in a long-running dispute brought by Lithuanian Airlines (“flyLAL”) against Air Baltic and Riga Airport. The case was referred to the ECJ by a Lithuanian court in order to (...)

On 12 June 2018, the Court of the Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) rejected the appeal lodged by Nexans against the Order of the President of the General Court of 23 November 2017, which had rejected Nexans’ request to prevent the publication by the Commission of confidential information (...)

On 30 May 2018, the European Parliament and the Council reached a provisional political agreement on a Commission proposal for a Directive to make Member States’ competition authorities even more effective enforcers of EU antitrust rules (the so-called “ECN+ Directive”). The Commission’s (...)

On 26 April 2018, the European Commission proposed a new Regulation on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services (the “Proposed Regulation”). The Proposed Regulation aims to address business practices which are likely to be harmful to business (...)

On 22 March 2018, the Belgian Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) dismissed an appeal against an interim judgment of the Brussels Court of Appeal (the “Court of Appeal”) on the damages claim introduced by the European Commission (the “Commission”). This claim arose following the Commission’s (...)

On 5 February 2018, the EU General Court (“GC” or “Court”) dismissed the appeal lodged by Edeka, a German supermarket chain, against the decision of the European Commission refusing to disclose the table of contents of its investigation file in the EURIBOR cartel (see VBB on Competition Law, (...)

On 26 January 2018, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published a report on the implementation of collective redress mechanisms in EU Member States (the “Report”). The Report is the Commission’s opportunity to comprehensively review the implementation of its 2013 Recommendation on (...)

On 13 December 2017, the Brussels Court of Appeal (the “Court”) held that documents seized by the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) during an inspection had been legally included in the scope of the investigation as the BCA had provided a satisfactory statement of reasons following a (...)

On 29 March 2017, the District Court of Gelderland (the “Court”) dismissed a passing-on defence put forward by the Swiss technology company ABB in a cartel damages case initiated by the Dutch network grid operator TenneT. TenneT claimed that it had incurred damages as a result of higher prices (...)

On 25 October 2016, the European Commission published its annual Work Programme: Delivering a Europe that protects, empowers and defends. As part of the Commission’s plans for creating a deeper and fairer internal market with a strengthened industrial base, antitrust enforcers are expected to (...)

On 25 October 2016, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (“DG Comp”) published an expert study on potential approaches for national courts to assess the passing-on of overcharges in competition litigation (“the Study”). The Study aims to provide judges and (...)

On 21 July 2016, the Hellenic Competition Commission (“HCC”) adopted the terms and conditions of the settlement procedure in cartel cases, modelled after the EU equivalent procedure, under which companies cooperating in an antitrust investigation can receive a fine reduction. The aim of the (...)

On 8 July 2016, the Dutch Supreme Court (“the Court”) handed down a judgment upholding the availability of the passing-on defense in private enforcement litigation. The ruling resulted from a civil claim for damages brought by the electricity company TenneT against the gas-insulated switchgear (...)

In a judgment of 7 July 2016, the Administrative Court Düsseldorf (the “Court”) annulled the prior decision of the President of the Higher Labour Court Düsseldorf (the “President”) who had denied a potential cartel victim access to the file of a cartel damages proceeding before the Higher (...)

On 15 June 2016, the European Commission published its annual Report on Competition Policy (the “Report”). The Report outlines developments over the past year in policy, legislation and decisions in the eld of competition. Key priorities in the 2015 Report include growth and investment, the (...)

In a judgment of 13 April 2016, the Regional Court Potsdam (the “Court”) ruled on the validity of a standard term in a procurement contract stipulating a fix percentage (15%) of damages in case of future follow-on action in relation to a competition law infringement. The claimant, a public (...)

On 10 March 2016, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) annulled on appeal a series of European Commission decisions requiring several cement manufacturers to supply information within the context of a cartel probe in the cement sector (the “Contested Decisions”). The ECJ held (...)

On 1 March 2016, the board of the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) adopted new guidelines concerning the leniency regime under Belgian competition law. These new leniency guidelines re ect a number of developments that have taken place since the adoption of the 2007 guidelines. The BCA (...)

On 10 September 2015, Advocate General Wathelet of the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued an opinion on a preliminary reference from an Italian court regarding the relationship between leniency applications made under the European Commission’s leniency notice and summary applications (...)

In a decision recently published on 6 March 2014, the Austrian Supreme Court (Supreme Court) dismissed an appeal by a company subject to a cartel investigation against an earlier decision by the Austrian Cartel Court to allow Austria’s Federal Competition Authority (BWB) access to copies of (...)

In a press release of 25 July 2013, the College of Competition Prosecutors confirmed that it had carried out dawn raids on 23 July 2013 at the premises of Nationale Loterij/Loterie Nationale, the incumbent on the Belgian market for lotteries and betting. Reportedly, the dawn raids (...)

On 11 July 2013, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of its guidance notice for assessing when minor agreements between companies are not caught by the general prohibition of anticompetitive agreements under EU competition law. The proposal aims at (...)

With two judgements of 13 June 2013 and 11 July 2013, the Rotterdam District Court annulled the decisions of the Dutch competition authority (now “ACM”) in a constructions cartel and a ship waste cartel. According to the Court, the telephone taps which provided evidence of the cartels (...)

On 8 July 2013, the UK’s Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) published its revised guidance on applications for leniency and no-action in cartel cases. The publication follows two earlier consultations on the subject in October 2011 and October 2012 (see VBB on Competition, Volume 2011, No. (...)

On 3 July 2013, the French National Assembly adopted at first reading a draft law in relation to consumer affairs. Among the proposals, the draft law seeks to introduce into the French legal system a class action procedure. The draft law seeks to introduce legislation aimed at (...)

On 2 July 2013, the Lithuanian Parliament amended Article 39 (1) of the Lithuanian Law on Competition of 23 March 1999 (the “Competition Law”) in relation to payment of fines imposed by the Competition Council (the “CC”). The new Article 39 (1) of the Competition Law provides that (...)

On 28 May 2013, the European Commission released its annual Report on Competition Policy for 2012. The Commission relies on its Report to illustrate that without an effective European competition policy, the internal market cannot deliver its full economic potential. Private barriers to (...)

On 24 April 2013, the French Supreme Court ruled that the powers of inspectors to globally seize electronic mailboxes are limited by the rights of the defence and, more specifically, the legal professional privilege (“LPP”). As a result, in 6 separate judgments, the French Supreme Court (...)

In a judgement of 23 April 2013, published on 13 June 2013, the Court of Appeal of The Hague held that Difotrust, an IT firm specialised in digital forensic research, should reveal information relating to possible cartel infringers. With its ruling, the Court of Appeal reversed the (...)

On 16 April 2013, the French Supreme Court ruled that national competition authorities (NCAs) are allowed to take enforcement actions against companies found to be in breach of Article 101 TFEU, despite market shares being below the thresholds established by the European Commission’s (...)

On 18 March 2013, the Commission published revised guidance on the conduct of on-the-spot inspections at the business premises of companies suspected of having engaged in anti- competitive behaviour. The main aim of the revision is to reflect rapid technological changes in the last few (...)

On 15 March 2013, the Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad der Nederlanden) confirmed the existence of a general legal privilege for in- house lawyers. The Supreme Court considered that the Akzo case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is not applicable beyond EU competition law and (...)

In a judgement of 13 March 2013, published on 4 June 2013, the Middle Netherlands Court dismissed in first instance a claim lodged by the owners of two apartment buildings and the city of Raalte against elevator building company Otis BV for alleged damage suffered as a result of illegal (...)

In a judgement of 16 January 2013 recently made available, the East Netherlands District Court held ABB to be liable for the injury suffered by its direct purchaser TenneT, the national electricity transmission system operator of the Netherlands, as a result of the insulated switchgear (...)

On 3 January, the Portuguese national competition authority (Autoridade da Concorrência) published a new Regulation (Regulamento nº 1/2013) setting out the procedure for benefiting from immunity from fines and the reduction of fines in cartel cases. The Autoridade da Concorrência has (...)

On 27 December 2012, the Belgian federal government introduced two draft bills aimed at reforming Belgian competition law. These bills are expected to be adopted in February 2013 but will not enter into force before 1 April 2013 at the earliest. While the draft legislation does not (...)

On 21 December 2012, the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeal Tribunal (College van Beroep voor het bedrijfsleven) held that former employees of companies subject to an antitrust investigation have the right to remain silent when being questioned by the national competition authority. In (...)

In a preliminary reference of 20 December 2012, the Constitutional Court (“Grondwettelijk Hof/Cour constitutionnelle”) held that EU cartel fines cannot be considered as a business expense which is deductible from corporate tax bills. The preliminary reference to the Constitutional (...)

On 3 December 2012, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its final report on a sector inquiry into the German waste disposal sector, namely the “dual systems” concept. The “dual systems” concept is an industry financed waste collection system for household packaging that (...)

On 29 November 2012, the President of the General Court, Judge Marc Jaeger, handed down an interim order suspending the Commission’s decision to share with an English court, currently reviewing a damage claim, confidential information that the Commission had received in the course of its (...)

On 26 October 2012, the Danish Competition and Consumer Authority (“DCCA”) put forward a proposal for revising the Danish Competition Act and the Danish Penal Code. The changes are primarily aimed at introducing the possibility of imprisonment for infringements of Article 101 TFEU and (...)

On 5 October 2012, President of The Hague District Court ruled in interim proceedings that the Dutch Competition Authority (“NMa”) cannot order third parties to provide information incriminating undertakings against which the NMa has insufficient information to initiate competition law (...)

On 3 July 2012, Ireland’s Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, signed a Commencement Order which brought into force the provisions of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2012 (“the Act”). The new legislation, initially proposed in September 2011, is intended to (...)

On 28 June 2012, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) announced the adoption of Decision No. 539/VII/2012 introducing an internal management tool in the form of a “Point System” for the investigation of cases by the Directorate-General for Competition. The Directorate-General (...)

By decision of 21 June 2012, the Regional Court of Bonn (“the Court”) upheld a decision by the Local Court of Bonn approving the seizure by the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) of internal audit documents that had been prepared by external counsel at the premises of the appellant. (...)

On 14 June 2012, the Hellenic Competition Commission (“HCC”) announced that it has fined Kaplanidis Mills S.A. and the Association of Greek Flour Industries for obstructing on-site inspections carried out on the basis of suspicions of anticompetitive behaviour in the flour and grain (...)

An independent report commissioned by the European Parliament (“EP”) and published on 12 June 2012 has expressed strong support for plans for EU-level regulation aimed at encouraging the initiation of damages claims by consumers and small companies who wish to seek redress for harm (...)

On 11 April 2012, the Paris Commercial Court handed down a preliminary judgment, before ruling on the merits of the case, authorising a plaintiff, namely Primagaz, to produce certain documents contained in the French Competition Authority’s case file in support of an action for damages (...)

On 28 March 2012, the European Commission imposed a total of € 2,500,000 in fines on Energetický a průmyslový holding and EP Investment Advisors, active in the energy sector in the Czech Republic, for obstructing an on-the-spot inspection carried out by Commission officials from 24 to 26 (...)

On 22 March 2012, the General Court rendered a judgment confirming the European Commission’s power to request documents pre-dating a member state’s accession to the EU. Indeed, the Court found that the Commission had been entitled to order Slovak Telekom to disclose information predating (...)

On 16 March 2012, the European Commission published new informal guidance on how confidentiality claims should be made by undertakings in respect of documents and submissions provided to DG Competition in the context of investigations into alleged breaches of Article 101 and Article 102 (...)

On 12 March 2012, the College of Competition Prosecutors submitted a reasoned report to the Competition Council finding an illegal exchange of price information between producers of fast- moving-consumer-goods in the context of a multi-sectoral association. The report concludes the (...)

On 16 February 2012, the Paris Court of Appeal finally endorsed a judgment of the French Supreme Court of 7 January 2011, according to which tape recordings of conversations made without the participants’ knowledge constitute inadmissible evidence in competition law proceedings. The (...)

An interesting judgment of the Court of Appeal (Gerechtshof) of Amsterdam of 17 January 2012 shows that Dutch courts have jurisdiction to deal with international mass claim settlements. In its decision, the Court made binding a settlement agreement reached in the Converium case. This (...)

In a press release issued on 6 January 2012, the Belgian Competition Council announced the adoption on 19 December 2011 of new Guidelines regarding the calculation of fines for EU and Belgian competition law infringements. The Guidelines describe the methodology that the Competition (...)

On 28 November 2011, the Belgian College of Competition Prosecutors submitted a reasoned report to the President of the Competition Council recommending that interim measures be taken against Dow Agro Science and Edialux for refusing to supply the chemical product sulfuryl fluoride to (...)

On 29 July 2011, the President of the General Court dismissed applications by four cement companies – Cemex, HeidelbergCement, Holcim and Cementos Portland Valderrivas – for interim measures to suspend requests for information addressed by the Commission under Article 18 of Regulation 1/2003 (...)

On 15 July 2011, the European Parliament published a draft report on collective redress (the “Draft Report”) prepared for its Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI Committee). This follows the public consultation launched by the European Commission in February 2011 aimed at identifying common legal (...)

On 11 July 2011, the Law 149/2011 for the approval of the Government Emergency Ordinance 75/2010 of 5 August 2010 (“GEO”) amending the Romanian Competition Law 21/1996 was published in the Official Journal. The Law 149/2011 (the “Approval Law”) confirmed most of the substantial changes already (...)

On 10 June 2011, the Commission published its annual Report on Competition Policy for 2010. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of these reports, the 2010 edition begins with an overview of the major developments of competition policy and enforcement over the past 40 years. The Commission shows (...)

On 30 May 2011, the Higher Regional Court in Düsseldorf asked the Federal Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of certain procedural provisions of the German Competition Act. The Düsseldorf Court had doubts whether the accretion of interest to antitrust fines was compatible (...)

On 30 May 2011, Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia announced a number of modifications he intends to introduce to the procedural rules governing antitrust proceedings before the Commission. The contemplated modifications concern DG Competition’s procedural Best Practices and the revision (...)

On 24 May 2011, the Commission fined Suez Environnement and its subsidiary Lyonnaise des Eaux France (LDE) € 8 million for breach of a seal, affixed by the Commission during an inspection at LDE’s premises following suspicions of anti-competitive behaviour. From 13 to 16 April 2010, the (...)

On 17 May 2011, the French Competition Authority published the final version of its new notice on the method of setting fines for competition law infringements (the "Fining Notice"). This document aims to enhance transparency on the method followed by the French Competition Authority when (...)

According to recent press reports, in a judgment of 21 April 2011, the Brussels Commercial Court requested a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) in the lift cartel damages proceedings. In February 2007, the European Commission fined lift and escalator manufacturers (...)

On 14 April 2011, Advocate General (“AG”) Juliane Kokott issued her opinion in cases C-109/10P and 110/10P, Solvay SAv. Commission, recommending that the Court of Justice (“ECJ”) annul two Commission decisions fining chemicals company Solvay for infringing Articles 81 and 82 EC (now Articles (...)

Speaking at a conference in Berlin on 14 April 2011, Commissioner Joaquín Almunia set out the Commission’s recent thinking on the issue of the ever-increasing burden of fines for competition infringements. While Commissioner Almunia was quick to defend the level of the fines handed out over (...)

On 13 April 2011, the President of the General Court (“GC”) suspended the execution of the fining decision of the European Commission against Westfälische Drahtindustrie GmbH, Westfälische Drahtindustrie Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH&Co. KG (“WDV”) and Papus Industrie Beteiligungen (...)

On 12 April 2011, the Greek Parliament adopted a new legislative framework governing competition law. The Competition Protection Act (“CPA”) replaces Law No. 703/1977 and introduces a number of noteworthy amendments to the Greek competition law regime. In a bid to ensure consistency with the (...)

In a recently published decision of 7 April 2011, the Belgian Competition Council found that the rights of defence of companies, investigated for alleged coordinated price increases in the confectionary sector, had been infringed. In April 2008, the College of Competition Prosecutors opened (...)

On 6 April 2011, it was reported that the UK Supreme Court has declined to hear a further appeal by Safeway against a ruling of the UK Court of Appeal rejecting Safeway‘s move to sue its directors and employees in order to recover competition fines payable to the UK competition regulator, the (...)

On 16 March 2011, the German District Court of Munich handed down a judgment in which it rejected a claim by Evonik Degussa GmbH (“Evonik”) that its former subsidiary SKW Stahl-Metallurgie GmbH (“SKW”) should be ordered to pay the € 1.04 million fine which the European Commission had imposed (...)

On 16 March 2011, the UK Government launched a consultation on options for reforming the UK competition regime and unveiled its plans to create a single Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) by merging the competition functions of the UK’s existing two competition authorities, namely, the (...)

On 2 March 2011, the President of the General Court issued an order suspending an obligation on the Slovak company 1. garantovaná a.s. (“Garantovaná”) to provide the European Commission with a bank guarantee in order to avoid the immediate recovery of a fine of € 19.6 million imposed by the (...)

On 24 February 2011, the Polish Competition Authority (UOKiK) imposed a € 33 million fine on mobile network operator Polkomtel for obstructing an antitrust investigation. Polkomtel was condemned for delaying the inspection of its offices by UOKiK’s investigators and for refusing to hand over (...)

The Provincial Tax Court of Milan (“Tax Court”) has recently delivered a controversial ruling on the possibility for companies to deduct antitrust fines as business expenses for tax purposes. The Tax Court considered that since an anticompetitive practice increases a company’s revenues, (...)

On 20 January 2011, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the European Commission’s 2009 Report on Competition Policy, i.e. a report published by the Commission in June 2010 which provides an overview of the main competition policy developments and enforcement actions taken during (...)

In a judgment dated 7 January 2011, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled that a cartel fine imposed by the Dutch Competition Authority (“NMa”) is not deductible under Dutch tax law. The applicant in the case at hand was part of an international group, active in the building (...)

On 22 December 2010, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) declined jurisdiction to answer a question for a preliminary ruling referred by the Licensing and Control Authority (Collège d’autorisation et de contrôle) of the Belgian French-speaking Broadcasting Authority (Conseil supérieur de (...)

On 16 December 2010, Advocate General Mazák delivered his opinion in a reference for a preliminary ruling from the Bonn Local Court arising from a damage claim in the paper cartel in Germany. By decisions of 2008, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed fines totalling € 62 million on (...)

In a judgment of 7 December 2010, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) adopted a preliminary ruling relating to the right of a national competition authority to participate in appeals before a judicial court against its own decisions. The preliminary questions were raised by the Brussels (...)

On 4 November 2010, the Polish Competition Authority (UOKiK) fined Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa (PTC) € 30 million for obstructing an on-the-spot inspection. It was acknowledged that PTC‘s employees did not allow the inspectors to enter the company’s offices and delayed a search of the premises. (...)

Called upon to review the practice of untargeted searches and seizures of digital data by the investigators of the French Competition Authority, a judge delegated by the President of the Paris Court of Appeal (the "President’s delegate") recently stayed proceedings and requested an expert (...)

On 27 October 2010, the Commission published its work programme for 2011. This sets out the strategic new initiatives that the Commission promises to deliver in 2011, as well as a number of other possible initiatives which are due to be completed under the current Commission’s mandate and a (...)

After the failure of the initiative launched by former Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes at the end of her tenure, the Commission has revealed plans to revive discussions on the introduction of coherent collective redress mechanisms at the EU-level. This is an initiative taken by the three (...)

The German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) recently published an opinion on the interpretation of specific parts of German environmental law. More precisely, the FCO considered whether Section 13 of the German waste law (Kreislaufwirtschafts- und. Abfallgesetz KrW/AbfG) is to be interpreted as (...)

On 20 September 2010, the Brussels Court of First Instance dismissed the action brought by NMBS/SNCB, the national railway company, against Electrabel for lack of proof. Mere reliance upon a report published by the energy regulator was found inconclusive evidence to demonstrate an abuse (...)

On 16 August 2010, the Dutch Competition Authority (the “NMa”) published new guidelines on dawn raids. These guidelines were adopted after a consultation round among stakeholders held at the beginning of 2010. These guidelines amend and replace the NMa‘s former guidelines on dawn raids of (...)

On 5 August 2010, the Government Emergency Ordinance 459/2010 (hereinafter, the “GEO”) amending the Romanian Competition Law 21/1996 (hereinafter, the “Romanian Competition Law”) entered into force. The substantial amendments made to the Romanian Competition Law follow legal developments in (...)

On 7 May 2008, the Commission adopted a preliminary assessment within the meaning of Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003 concerning alleged abusive practices by E.ON and its subsidiaries on the German electricity wholesale and balancing markets. On 27 May 2008, E.ON submitted commitments with a (...)

The European Commission has recently published the non-confidential version of a decision adopted on 23 July 2010 regarding a claim by a pharmaceutical company, Les Laboratoires Servier, and its parent company Servier SAS (“Servier”), that a document seized during an unannounced inspection in (...)

On 11 June 2010, a Government bill outlining the new Competition Act was presented to the Finnish Parliament. The content of the bill essentially follows the proposal from the working group that was put before the Government in January 2009. The proposed amendments aim to bring the Finnish (...)

On 7 July 2010, official talks were launched in Strasbourg between the European Union (“EU”) and the Council of Europe, concerning the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”). Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Viviane Reding, (...)

On 3 June 2010, the European Commission published its 2009 annual report on competition policy. This yearly report gives an overview of the main developments in EU competition policy and major enforcement actions. The 2009 report also dedicates a chapter to considering how the tools of (...)

On 11 and 12 May 2010, the General Court (“GC”) published two orders rejecting applications for interim measures by companies which had requested that fines imposed by Commission decisions in cartel cases be suspended pending the outcome of their appeals against those decisions. Both companies (...)

On 11 and 12 May 2010, the General Court (“GC”) published two orders rejecting applications for interim measures by companies which had requested that fines imposed by Commission decisions in cartel cases be suspended pending the outcome of their appeals against those decisions. Both companies (...)

On 6 May 2010, the Spanish Competition Authority imposed a fine of € 300,000 on Extraco Construccions e Proxectos SA (“Extraco”) for failing to cooperate during an unannounced inspection in the context of an investigation in the building sector. In particular, it appears that Extraco’s CEO (...)

On 30 April 2010 a judgment by the ECJ had dismissed an appeal against the GC’s refusal of an application for interim measures by Ziegler SA. The application for interim measures had been lodged by Ziegler together with its appeal against a European Commission’s decision of 11 March 2008, (...)

On 29 April 2010, Advocate General Juliane Kokott handed down her opinion in an appeal before the Court of Justice by Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd and Akcros Chemicals Ltd. The appeal had been brought against a judgment of the Court of First Instance (now the General Court) of 17 September 2007 in (...)

The Hungarian Competition Authority (the “GVH”) has published further guidance on the informant fee regime that was introduced in December 2009. The GVH recalls that the informant fee will only be granted when “indispensable” evidence is provided and considers, for instance, that a written (...)

On 11 March 2010, the Brussels Court of Appeal handed down a judgment which partially annuls a decision of the Competition Council of 1 October 2008 (the “Decision”). In the Decision, the Competition Council partially upheld the conditions it had imposed in 1997 when approving the merger (...)

On 2 March 2010, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the European Commission’s 2008 Report on Competition Policy. In its resolution the Parliament welcomes the publication of the Commission report, in particular its focus on cartels and consumers and the publication of the (...)

After the European Parliament’s endorsement on 9 February 2010, the Council formally appointed the new Commission on 10 February 2010. Mr. Joaquín Almunia took office on the same day and replaced Ms. Neelie Kroes as Commissioner for Competition. Mr. Almunia, an economist by profession, was the (...)

In three judgments of 2 February 2010 (all published on 23 February 2010) the French Supreme Court annulled the judgments of 26 November 2008, whereby the Paris Court of Appeal had annulled commitments decisions adopted by the French Competition Authority in the pharmaceutical sector. This (...)

On 27 January 2010, the Danish Minister for Economic and Business Affairs put a legislative package amending the existing Competition Act before the Danish Parliament. The aim of the proposed amendments is to bring the Danish Competition Act more in line with EU rules, especially with respect (...)

On 20 January 2010, the Estonian Parliament amended the Competition Act, the Penal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code, and introduced a new leniency programme. This new leniency programme is based on the European Competition Network’s Model Leniency Programme, which has been adapted in order (...)

On 19 January 2010, the Commission published an external study prepared by the economic consultancy Oxera and a multi-jurisdictional team of lawyers on quantifying antitrust damages. In its White Paper on damages actions for breach of antitrust rules, published in April 2008, the Commission (...)

On 14 January 2010, the European Regulators Group for Electricity and Gas (ERGEG) and the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) published a report setting out their 2010 work programme and their assessment of the development of the EU energy markets during 2008. The report highlights a (...)

Between 11 and 19 January 2010, various committees of the European Parliament held confirmation hearings for the 26 candidate Commissioners nominated by Member State governments and Commission President José Manuel Barroso. After controversy arose concerning the candidacy of Bulgarian Rumiana (...)

On 14 December 2009, the Hungarian parliament adopted an anti-bribery law (law 163 of 2009), introducing an informant fee for individuals who provide the Hungarian Competition Authority (the “GVH”) with evidence of an infringement of Article 101 TFEU or the corresponding provision of the (...)

On 7 December 2009, the Dutch Competition Authority (“NMa”) announced that a potential damage claimant had been given access to a statement of objections issued in the course of a cartel investigation in the natrium hypochlorite market which ultimately led to a € 3.1 million fine imposed on (...)

On 25 November 2009, the European Parliament formally approved the “Telecoms Reform Package”, proposed by the Commission in November 2007, to reform the EU’s current regulatory framework for electronic communications. In a press release issued on the same day, the Commission has welcomed the (...)

In a decision dated 18 November 2009, the European Ombudsman found that the Commission had committed an act of maladministration in its investigation of Intel’s alleged breach of Article 82 EC. In May 2009, the Commission imposed a fine of € 1.06 billion on Intel for abusing its dominant (...)

To complement a European Commission Communication on a better functioning food supply chain in Europe, which was published on 28 October 2009, the Commission has published a staff working document which considers competition in the food supply chain. The Commission was granted a mandate to (...)

On 8 October 2009, the European Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation on competition policy matters with Brazil. The Memorandum of Understanding sets out the basis for administrative cooperation, dialogue and exchanges between the (...)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed applications to intervene in an appeal by Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd (Akzo) and Akcros Chemicals Ltd (Akcros) against a Commission Decision not to grant legal privilege to two sets of documents copied by the Commission in the course of a dawn (...)

On 7 September 2009, a revised Greek competition law regime came into effect, implementing important changes to the competition rules. Under the new regime, individuals who have concluded agreements or have been involved in decisions or concerted practices that: (i) are prohibited by Article (...)

On 23 July 2009, the European Commission confirmed that, further to the reasoned opinion it sent on 2 February 2009, Slovakia has brought its Competition Act into conformity with EU law by ensuring that the Slovak Competition Authority can apply Articles 81 and 82 EC to the electronic (...)

On 16 July 2009, the European Court of Justice annulled the judgment of the Court of First Instance in the Schneiderdamages action case, finding that the Commission should only pay compensation to Schneider to cover the costs that it incurred in dealing with the Commission’s second (...)

On 16 July 2009, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on the Commission’s appeal against the judgment of the Court of First Instance (CFI) of 11 July 2007 in the Schneider/Legrandsaga. The CFI judgment was the first time that compensation has been awarded for errors committed by the (...)

On 10 July 2009, the Dutch Competition Authority ("NMa") announced that it has imposed record fines of € 150,000 on two former CEOs of an undertaking for their non-cooperation in an NMa investigation launched in 2007. Both former CEOs (who left the undertaking concerned in 2006) had invoked (...)

On 7 July 2009, following a request of the French Minister of Economy, the French Competition Authority issued an opinion concerning exclusivity agreements between pay TV operators and Internet service providers. Among the various issues raised, the Minister referred to the so-called «double (...)

The European Commission is reported to be finalising its draft directive on damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules and circulating the draft within the Commission prior to forwarding it to the Council and the European Parliament. It may be recalled that the Commission published (...)

On 23 April 2009, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) dismissed the appeal brought by AEPI against a judgment of the Court of First Instance (“CFI”) upholding the Commission’s decision to reject a complaint lodged by AEPI, a Greek entity in charge of collective management of intellectual (...)

On 25 April 2009, an amendment to the Lithuanian Competition Act entered into force. The amendment, which implements Regulation 1/2003 on the implementation of the competition rules laid down in Articles 81 and 82 EC, brings Lithuanian competition law in line with EC competition law. The (...)

On 26 March 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting the European Commission’s White Paper on damages actions for breach of EC antitrust rules, backing a report of the European Parliamentary Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON Committee) of 2 March 2009, (...)

On 19 March 2009, the UK Competition Commission (CC) published its final report in its inquiry into competition issues surrounding BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports (Stansted, Gatwick, Heathrow and Southampton in England and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland). The CC’s final (...)

On 5 March 2009, Advocate General Mengozzi handed down his opinion in a question put forward by the Amsterdam Regional Court in the Netherlands about the scope of the Commission’s power to present written observations before national courts. The question was posed in the context of litigation (...)

On 2 March 2009, the new French Competition Authority held its first meeting, since the transfer of competences provided for in the French law on modernisation of the economy (LME) adopted on 4 August 2008. The LME established a new single Competition Authority consolidating the powers and (...)

The Estonian Ministry of Justice recently set out draft amendments to its leniency programme, which aim at increasing the number of cartels being uncovered and to allow cartel participants greater security with regard to the receipt of immunity for informing the authorities of a cartel. (...)

The Norwegian Ministry of Government Administration and Reform has proposed amendments to the Norwegian leniency regime in order to make the fight against cartels more effective. The proposal issued in December 2008 sets out three principal changes. Firstly, the scope of the leniency rules (...)

On 3 February 2009, following the entry into force of the new Competition Act, the Bulgarian Commission on the Protection of Competition (“CPC”) adopted a new calculation methodology for setting fines (hereafter, the “Fining Methodology”). The Fining Methodology entered into force on 10 (...)

On 2 February 2009, the European Commission confirmed that it has sent a reasoned opinion to Slovakia, formally requesting it to amend a provision of the Slovakian competition act which limits the Slovakian competition authority’s power to apply Articles 81 and 82 EC to certain regulated (...)

On 2 February 2009, the European Commission announced that it is to conduct an in-depth market analysis into the retail electricity market in 2009. The decision to carry out this market study follows findings by the Commission’s Consumer Markets Scoreboard which has indicated consumer (...)

In February 2009, the Bulgarian Commission on Protection of Competition (CPC) introduced a programme on immunity from and reduction of fines in cartel cases (Leniency Programme). The Leniency Programme, which provides an opportunity for applicants to receive immunity from fines or a (...)

On 29 January 2009, a working group established by the Finnish Ministry of Employment and Economy submitted its proposal for the adoption of a new competition act. The proposed amendments aim to bring the Finnish competition rules closer to the EC rules and to strengthen the enforcement of the (...)

On 27 January 2009, the President of the Court of First Instance (CFI) dismissed an application by Intel Corp for interim measures in its appeal against two European Commission decisions. The decisions relate to Article 82 EC proceedings regarding Intel’s alleged conduct in excluding its (...)

A new Polish government leniency regulation (the "Leniency Regulation") entered into force on 24 February 2009. By adopting certain elements of the ECN Model Leniency Programme, the Leniency Regulation facilitates applications for immunity or a reduction to a fine and gives potential (...)

In a judgment of 23 January 2009, which was recently made available, the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (“Court”) dismissed a claim by a customer (Edelhoff) for the restitution of sums already paid under a contract with the lift manufacturer Otis, on the basis that the contract with Otis (...)

On 13 January 2009, the French Supreme Court rejected Schering-Plough‘s appeal against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal of 5 February 2008 upholding in its entirety a French Competition Council interim decision of 11 December 2007. In that decision, the Competition Council had ordered (...)

On 6 January 2009, the Estonian Ministry of Justice published draft legislation which would create a leniency programme offering protection to cartel informants in Estonia. Currently, some protection is afforded to whistleblowers under the Estonian Code of Criminal Procedure, which allows (...)

On 1 January 2009, Poland applied new fining guidelines to competition law infringements. The new guidelines aim at increasing transparency in the way in which antitrust sanctions are set by the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (the “OCCP”). The guidelines introduce (...)

In a speech on collective redress in Europe delivered on 10 December 2008, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes recalled that the availability of effective collective redress mechanisms is one of the key suggestions made in the Commission’s White Paper on damages actions for breach of the EC (...)

On 10 December 2008, the Commission published a Communication on food prices in Europe (the "Communication"). The goal of the Communication is to improve the functioning of the food supply chain with the hope that this will lower prices for consumers. One of the Commission’s proposals is to (...)

On 4 December 2008, the Commission posted on its website a questionnaire for stakeholders concerning the block exemption regulations applicable to research and development agreements (Commission Regulation No. 2659/2000) and specialization agreements (Commission Regulation 2658/2000), which (...)

On 26 September 2008, the European Commission announced that it will present its preliminary findings on its inquiry into competition in the pharmaceuticals sector at a conference on 28 November 2008. The final results are expected in the spring of 2009. The sector inquiry, which was launched (...)

The relationship between competition law and intellectual property rights has been the subject of much debate during the European Commission’s on-going pharmaceutical sector enquiry. In particular, there has been some concern that competition law could encroach on the complex rules governing (...)

Advocate General (AG) Mengozzi has recently delivered two interesting opinions in the field of competition law enforcement. On appeal in the AEPIand Archer Daniels Midlandcases, he advised the Court of Justice to quash the judgments of the Court of First Instance (CFI). He further recommended (...)

Both the French Supreme Court and the Paris Court of Appeal have recently ruled on the issue of access to documents in the specific context of the commitments procedure. On 26 November 2008, in three distinct judgments, the Paris Court of Appeal annulled several decisions of July 2007 and (...)

On 22 November 2008, details were published in the Official Journal of the European Union of an appeal brought by Intel to annul decisions of the Hearing Officer and the European Commission. The decisions relate to Article 82 EC proceedings regarding Intel’s alleged conduct in excluding its (...)

On 21 November 2008, the Spanish Competition Authority published for consultation its draft Fining Guidelines for infringements of the competition rules (the “draft Fining Guidelines”). This public consultation will be open until 17 December 2008. The draft Fining Guidelines state that when (...)

Advocate General (AG) Mengozzi has recently delivered two interesting opinions in the field of competition law enforcement. On appeal in the AEPIand Archer Daniels Midlandcases, he advised the Court of Justice to quash the judgments of the Court of First Instance (CFI). He further recommended (...)

On 5 November 2008, the European Commission adopted its 2009 legislative and work programme, announcing the main initiatives it intends to pursue in 2009. These initiatives include a review of the 1995 Notice on cooperation between national courts and the Commission in the State aid field, a (...)

On 4 November 2008, the French Supreme Court was asked to rule on the validity of the French commitments procedure in light of Article 6, §1 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) for the first time. The Supreme Court rejected the applicability of Article 6, §1 ECHR in this (...)

Both the French Supreme Court and the Paris Court of Appeal have recently ruled on the issue of access to documents in the specific context of the commitments procedure. On 4 November 2008, the French Supreme Court partially annulled a judgment of the Court of Appeal, on the ground that the (...)

On 20 October 2008, the Dutch competition authority (“NMa”) announced that it had imposed a EUR 269,000 fine on Sara Lee Household & Bodycare Nederland B.V. for the overnight breach of a seal affixed by the NMa during a surprise inspection of Sara Lee’s premises. The penalty for such an (...)

On 16 October 2008, the Commission decided to close its investigation into Sanofi-Aventis’ alleged obstruction of a Commission inspection in the framework of the pharmaceuticals sector inquiry. During the inspection, Sanofi-Aventis denied Commission inspectors access to certain documents until (...)

On 13 October 2008, the President of the District Court of The Hague handed down its judgment in the joint summary proceedings initiated respectively by Allianz Nederland Schadeverzekering N.V. (Allianz) and Fortis Corporate Insurance N.V (Fortis) against the Dutch Competition Authority (NMa). (...)

On 6 October 2008, the Commission published on its website a preliminary draft of a new block exemption regulation relating to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices between liner shipping companies (i.e., shipping consortia). Shipping consortia are a form of (...)

On 11 September 2008, the French General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control launched a public consultation on a preliminary draft decree on the powers of settlement and injunction of the French Minister of Economy as regards anticompetitive practices (...)

On 9 September 2008, the Court of First Instance ("CFI") dismissed in its entirety the damages action brought by MyTravel (formerly Airtours) for losses resulting from its inability to complete its bid for First Choice as a result of the Commission’s prohibition of the Airtours/First (...)

On 9 September 2008, the Court of First Instance (CFI) rendered a second judgment regarding MyTravel (formerly Airtours) in which it largely dismissed MyTravel‘s appeal against the Commission’s refusal to disclose internal documents relating to the Airtours/First Choicemerger. The CFI only (...)

The Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) has recently issued a declaration clarifying the applicable rules on the obligation to notify agreements, decisions and concerted practices. The Greek Competition Act (Law 703/1977) provides in Article 21 that agreements, decisions and concerted (...)

In February 2007, the European Commission imposed a fine totaling € 992 million on Kone, Otis, Schindlerand ThyssenKruppfor having breached Article 81 EC by operating, from 1995 to 2004, a cartel for the installation and maintenance of lifts and escalators in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and (...)

On 20 August 2008, the UK Competition Commission issued its provisional findings regarding competition issues relating to the UK airports owned and operated by BAA (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Southampton in England and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen in Scotland). The Competition (...)

The provisions of the French law of 4 August 2008 aimed at modernising the French economy, which establish a new single Competition Authority and modify substantive rules on French merger control, have now come into force, with the publication of the implementing ordinance of 13 November 2008. (...)

At the beginning of August 2008, the Austrian Ministry of Economy and Labour presented a draft Act amending the Austrian Competition Act. This draft Act aims at adjusting the competences of the Austrian competition authority (BWB) in line with those of the European Commission and the German (...)

On 24 July 2008, the Commission launched a public consultation on the functioning of Regulation 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 EC. More specifically, the consultation deals with whether one of the objectives of Regulation 1/2003 has (...)

On 23 July 2009, the Commission published its 2008 Annual Report on Competition Policy. This yearly Report provides an overview of the Commission’s work on competition enforcement and policy in the areas of antitrust, merger control and State aid. This year’s Report has been drafted in the (...)

On 1 July 2008, new amendments to the Norwegian Competition Act (the Competition Act) entered into force. The main changes to the Competition Act relate to merger procedure. Firstly, Section 18 of the Competition Act was amended in order to clarify and extend the standardised notification. It (...)

On 1 July 2008, the Commission published its 2007 Annual Report on Competition Policy. The report provides an overview of major developments in competition policy over the last year, outlining key changes and major enforcement actions. The Commission notes that its leniency policy has proved (...)

Further to its ongoing efforts to improve and streamline the procedures for fighting cartels, on 30 June 2008, the Commission adopted its legislative package concerning the settlement procedure in cartel cases. The adoption of this legislative package follows the results of a public (...)

On 18 June 2008, the Court of First Instance (CFI) handed down its judgment regarding an appeal by Hoechst AG requesting the annulment of the Commission’s decision of 1 October 2003, which found that Hoechst had participated in a cartel on the sorbates market or, in the alternative, a (...)

On 12 June 2008, the Swedish Parliament adopted a new Competition Act, which is said to give the current Swedish Competition Act of 1993 a “thorough facelift”. According to a press release from the Swedish Competition Authority, the new rules will bring Swedish competition law more closely (...)

On 2 June 2008, the Hungarian Parliament adopted amendments to the Hungarian Competition Act. The amendments will enter into force in September 2008. The most important modifications concern leniency, damages actions and merger control. The Hungarian leniency regime will be integrated in the (...)

On 2 June 2008, the European Commission announced that it has opened formal proceedings against Sanofi-Aventis SA in order to investigate a possibly illegal obstruction of a dawn raid carried out at the company’s premises during January 2008 as part of the pharmaceuticals sector inquiry. The (...)

On 15 May 2008, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs published an explanatory report on the European Commission’s sector inquiry on retail banking and voted in favour of a Parliamentary Resolution. The Committee welcomes the Commission’s focus on the efficiency (...)

In an order issued on 5 May 2008, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the Italian legislation precluding national judges assessing the legal costs payable by an unsuccessful litigant from derogating from a fixed scale of legal fees, approved by a ministerial decree on the basis of a (...)

On 29 April 2008, the French Council of Ministers adopted a draft law aimed at modernizing the French economy. Among the proposed reforms, the draft law purports to abolish the principle of non-discrimination of Article L. 442-6, I, 1° of the French Commercial Code. According to this (...)

On 3 April 2008, following a public consultation launched in February 2008, the French Competition Council published a new procedural notice on commitment proceedings. The final text of the procedural notice largely confirms the main points of the draft version disclosed last February. The few (...)

On 16 April 2008, substantive amendments to the Latvian Competition Law entered into force with respect to merger control, abuse of dominant position and the powers of the Latvian Competition Council. In merger control, the notification requirement for a merger between parties’ with a (...)

OECD: The OECD has recently published a paper on the private enforcement of competition cases. It follows several roundtable discussions held between October 2004 and June 2006 on issues such as the gathering of evidence, standing, the passing-on defence, the assessment of damages and class (...)

One year after the public consultation that led to the revision of its leniency programme, on 1 February 2008 the French Competition Council launched a public consultation on commitment proceedings. Under French law, such proceedings are provided for under Articles L. 464-2 and R.464-2 of the (...)

On 2 January 2008, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) established a new unit B10 which, jointly with the Cartel Offices of the German Länders, will be in charge of controlling whether gas and electricity are being set at appropriate prices. The new unit will have eight full-time members. (...)

From the beginning of 2010, Italian consumers have been able to bring or join a collective damages action regarding unlawful commercial practices (including breaches of competition rules). Indeed, following two years of amendments being made to the legislation in question and its postponed (...)

On 20 December 2007, the French Parliament adopted a new law on the development of competition for the benefit of consumers, which was promulgated on 3 January 2008 (see Law No. 2008-3 of 3 January 2008 on the development of competition for the benefit of consumers, French Official Journal, 4 (...)

Following its ratification by the Czech Republic, the last Member State to do so, the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force on 1 December 2009. On 30 October 2009, at the European Council, EU leaders agreed to offer the Czech Republic an opt-out from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, the (...)