Jean-Paul Tran Thiet

Over the past two years, both the United States and the European Union have attempted to provide a regulatory solution to the net neutrality issue with the adoption by the US regulator, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), of a regulation on February 26, 2015 (the "FCC Regulation"), (...)

By two decisions of 17 December 2015, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel (hereinafter "CSA") rejected the requests for approval of changes to the financing arrangements for the television channels "Planète +" (Canal Plus Group) and "Paris Première" (Métropole Télévision Group, hereinafter (...)

Following the agreement reached between the three EU institutions on 30 June 2015, formally adopted by the Council on 1 October 2015 and by the European Parliament on 27 October 2015, Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down measures on access to an (...)

In two judgments, 379579 and 384231 of October 9, 2015, the Conseil d’État returned to the conditions for sharing mobile networks and, in particular, to the execution of the national roaming contract entered into between Free Mobile ("Free") and Orange. On the one hand, it confirms that the (...)

On 26 September 2015, the Government launched an online public consultation on its "Digital Republic Bill" (hereinafter the "Bill"). This public discussion will enable participants, before the Bill is sent to the Council of State and adopted by the Council of Ministers, to "give their opinion (...)

Since its establishment in 2010, the Rail Regulatory Authority (hereinafter "ARAF") has been supporting the rail sector in its gradual opening up to competition. ARAF, whose mission is to contribute to the proper functioning of the public service and competitive activities for the benefit of (...)

On June 23, 2015, the Commission de Régulation de l’Energie (hereinafter "CRE") published a deliberation on the responses provided by Électricité Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "ERDF"), Gaz Réseau Distribution France (hereinafter "GRDF") and their parent companies (respectively EDF (...)

In a judgment handed down on 12 May 2015, the Commercial Chamber of the Court of Cassation dismissed Cogent’s appeal against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal dismissing its application to annul the decision of the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") relating to practices (...)

Following the renewal of the European Commission in November 2014, its President Jean-Claude Juncker made the creation of a digital single market one of his ten priorities, stressing that such an achievement could generate up to €250 billion of additional growth in Europe during the mandate of (...)

RCE, 25 Feb. 2015, Communication deliberation on the development of smart grids On 25 February 2015, the Commission de régulation de l’énergie (hereinafter "CRE") published a deliberation on the development of smart grids (Smart grids, incorporating functionalities from new information and (...)

CJEU, 22 Jan. 2015, T-Mobile Austria, Case C-282/13 In its judgment C-282/13 of 22 January 2015, the Court clarified, in response to a question referred for a preliminary ruling, the rights of competing undertakings in the event of a procedure for the transfer of telecommunications (...)

On November 25, 2014, the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (hereinafter "ARCEP") published a preliminary version of an observatory measuring the quality of the fixed Internet access service offered by electronic communications network operators in (...)

On 9 October 2014, the European Commission (hereinafter "the Commission") adopted a new Recommendation on relevant product and service markets within the electronic communications sector susceptible to ex ante regulation (hereinafter "the Recommendation"). This Recommendation, which is (...)

Following a complaint filed by beIN Sports, accompanied by a request for precautionary measures, the French Competition Authority ordered, by decision no. 14-MC-01 of July 30, 2014, the suspension of the agreement entered into on January 14, 2014 by which the French National Rugby League (LNR) (...)

CSA, Decision No. 2014-357 of July 29, 2014 on the request for approval of the modification of the financing terms of the terrestrial television service La Chaîne Info Decision no. 2014-358 of July 29, 2014 on the request for approval of the modification of the terms and conditions of (...)

On May 27, 2014, ARCEP announced the opening of five administrative investigations into the deployment of mobile networks and the quality of operators’ fixed-line services. Indeed, among the missions entrusted to it under Article L. 36-7 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code (...)

A new episode in the gas tariff schedule: the Council of State has, once again, cancelled the regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas set by two decrees dated 15 April 2013. On December 20, 2013, the French Competition Authority ("Authority") published an opinion on a draft decree (...)

Noting that interconnection and data transmission services were at the heart of the technical operation of the Internet, ARCEP set up a system in 2012 to "monitor" the markets concerned, providing for the collection of data from players (ARCEP Decision no. 2012-0366 of March 29, 2012 on the (...)

The Competition Authority has obtained from the Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) that it separate its online horse betting activity from that of its network of physical outlets under monopoly. The gambling sector has long been structured around monopolies, entrusted by law to La Française des Jeux (...)

In its decision no. 2014-0192 of February 13, 2014, ARCEP ruled on a request for settlement of a dispute submitted in December 2013 by Oméa Télécom. Oméa Télécom is a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO). Unlike the four network operators, MVNOs do not have their own network (...)

Instituted by Law No 2003-8 of 3 January 2003 on the gas and electricity markets and the public energy service, the contribution to the public electricity service (CSPE) is intended to provide specific public compensation for charges corresponding to public service missions carried out in a (...)

The French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has just put online the 2013-2014 report on compliance with codes of conduct and the independence of network operators. In the press release published on January 6, 2014, the energy regulator underlines in particular the persistence of confusion (...)

The French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) has published its 2012 report on compliance with good conduct and independence of electricity and natural gas transmission (TSO) and distribution system operators (DSO). These regulated operators must manage their networks independently, without (...)

On 11 September 2013, the European Commission published a Communication on the Single Telecoms Market, a proposal for a Regulation laying down measures regarding the Single Telecoms Market and the completion of a Connected Continent and a Recommendation on non-discrimination obligations and (...)

Fr. NCA, 14.10.2013, Opinion n°13-A-16 Fr. NCA, 14.10.2013, Opinion n°13-A-17 On 14 October 2013, the Competition Authority issued three opinions to ARCEP as part of the procedure for analysing the wholesale markets for fixed and mobile voice call termination (MT) and SMS MT. MT is the (...)

On 22 October 2013, the Competition Authority (the Authority), seized by the Minister of the Economy and Finance, issued Opinion No. 13-A-14 of 4 October 2013 to the Government on the draft law of 16 October 2013 on railway reform. The purpose of this bill is to revise the current structure (...)

This case is part of a series of infringement actions brought by the Commission against various Member States of the European Union for incorrect transposition of Council Directive 91/440/EEC of 29 July 1991 on the development of the Community’s railways and Directive 2001/14/EC of the (...)

The July 16, 2013 decision of the French Telecommunications and Posts Regulatory Authority (ARCEP) closes the administrative investigation into the technical and financial conditions governing the routing of Internet traffic between Free and Google. The President of the UFC-Que-Choisir (...)

The judgment of the Conseil d’État of July 10, 2013 relates to the actions for annulment on the grounds of misuse of powers brought by AT&T Global Network Services France SAS, AT&T Global Network Services LLC, Verizon France and MCI Communications Services against the decision of the (...)

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 13-A-08 of 11 March 2013 on conditions for sharing and roaming on mobile networks The matter was referred to the Authority for an opinion on 2 November 2012 by the Minister for Production Recovery and the Minister Delegate responsible for SMEs, Innovation and the (...)

ARCEP press release of March 12, 2013 In a press release dated March 12, 2013, the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (hereinafter ARCEP) announced that its Chairman had informed the Public Prosecutor of the possible failure of the company Skype (...)

CJEU, 28 February 2013, European Commission v. Federal Republic of Germany, Case C-556/10 The European Commission brought an action for failure to fulfil obligations (Article 258 TFEU) against the Federal Republic of Germany on 26 November 2010 before the Court of Justice of the European (...)

Aut. conc. opinion No. 12-A-25 of 21 December 2012 on the taking into account of historical additional costs in the equalisation system between press courier cooperatives The Autorité de régulation de la distribution de la presse (ARDP) and the Conseil supérieur des messageries de presse (...)

This decree is published: Decree No. 2013-400 of 16 May 2013 amending Decree No. 2009-1603 of 18 December 2009 on regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas, JORF No. 013 of 17 May 2013, p. 8189. On April 18, 2013, following a referral from the Government pursuant to Article L. 462-2 of (...)

Opinion No 13-A-02 of 21 January 2013 on the situation of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in mobile telephony markets, Aut. conc. On 21 January 2013, the French Competition Authority issued an opinion on the situation of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) on the mobile (...)

In a ruling dated November 28, 2012, the Conseil d’État overturned a decision dated June 5, 2009 by the Minister of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Land Use Planning and the Minister of the Economy, Industry and Employment approving the tariffs for use of the public electricity (...)

Concord. 20.09.12, Decision No. 12-D-18 For the first time, the Competition Authority was called upon to rule in a contentious context on the delicate issue of interconnection relations between Internet players in a context of increasing and concentrated traffic. The context of the (...)

Conc. conc. opinion No. 12-A-09 of 12 April 2012 concerning a draft decree on the introduction of a capacity mechanism in the electricity sector On 12 April 2012, the Competition Authority issued an opinion on the draft decree on the establishment of a capacity mechanism in the electricity (...)

ARCEP, May 2012, public consultation on the draft report to the Parliament and the Government on Internet neutrality This draft report follows on from the 10 proposals for network- and Internet-neutrality published by ARCEP in September 2010, defining a global framework for action by market (...)

Concise Aut. opinion no. 12-A-19 relating to consumption load-shedding in the electricity sector On March 13, 2012, CRE sent the Competition Authority a request for an opinion on the compliance with competition law of draft rules on the valuation of the diffuse erasure on the adjustment (...)

Cass. com, 30 May 2012, La Réunion Numérique, n° 11-14564 The Regional Council of La Réunion had entrusted the company La Réunion Numérique, under a public service delegation contract, with the provision of connection and extension services, as well as the commercial operation of a broadband (...)

As part of its monitoring of Free Mobile’s deployment obligations, ARCEP requested technical support from the French National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) from the Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy (ARCEP press release dated January 27, 2012 available on its website). On March (...)

CE, 28 March 2012, Direct Énergie and Syndicat intercommunal de la périphérie de Paris pour l’électricité et les réseaux de communication (SIPPEREC), n° 330548, 332639, 332643 The Council of State is postponing its decision and is seeking a technical opinion on certain methodological aspects (...)

CRE, Public consultation of 6 March 2012 on the structure of tariffs for the use of public electricity transmission and distribution networks The tariff for use of the public electricity transmission and distribution networks (hereinafter "TURPE") is the subject of a consultation by CRE for (...)

Opinion No. 11-A-20 of 15 December 2011 on the methods of communication of data relating to the radio sites of mobile operators. On 16 December 2011, the French Competition Authority, acting on a referral from the Minister for the Economy, issued an opinion on the exchange of information (...)

Bill to repeal the compensatory channels of Digital Terrestrial Television, No. 4018, tabled on November 30, 2011 on the office of the National Assembly On November 30, 2011, the Council of Ministers approved a bill repealing the bonus channels granted to TF1, Canal Plus and M6 to compensate (...)

CRE, decision of January 26, 2012 on the certification of GRTgaz CRE, deliberation of 26 January 2012 concerning the decision to certify the company RTE CRE, deliberation of the 26 January 2012 on the decision to certify the company TIGF In three deliberations dated January 26, 2012, (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2011-1168 of 11 October 2011 authorising Bouygues Telecom to use frequencies in the 2.6 GHz band in mainland France to establish and operate a mobile radio network open to the public. ARCEP, Dec. No. 2011-1169 of October 11, 2011 authorizing Free Mobile to use frequencies in (...)

Eur. Comm, press release IP/11/1115, 29.0911, the Commission calls on France to ensure non-discriminatory allocation of digital TV broadcasting frequencies On 29 September 2011, the European Commission issued a reasoned opinion against France, taking the view that France’s allocation of (...)

Minister for Industry, Energy and the Digital Economy, Press release of 21 June 2011 The Minister has just launched a public consultation on the regulatory provisions intended to transpose the third telecoms package (Directives 2009/136/EC and 2009/140/EC of the European Parliament and of (...)

Order 2011-1012 of 24 August 2011 on electronic communications, JORF n°197 of 26 August 2011, p. 14473 On 24 August 2011, France transposed the European directives (Directives 2009/140/EC and 2009/136/EC of 25 November 2009) making up the third "telecoms package" by means of an order that is (...)

Study on the routing activity in France carried out by BASIC at the request of ARCEP, July 2011 On July 29, 2011, ARCEP published the results of the 2010 BASIC study on the routing business in France. This study provides an overview of the mail preparation sector in France, on the eve of (...)

Study on the scope of the notion of electronic communications operator carried out by Hogan Lovells and Analysys Mason on behalf of ARCEP, June 2011 ARCEP has just put online a study aimed at clarifying the criteria for the status of electronic communications operator. It should be recalled (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 23 June 2011, NC Numericable SA and Numericable SAS v/ France Télécom SA, RG 2010/23690 The Paris Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal filed by the Numericable companies against ARCEP’s dispute settlement decision of November 4, 2010 (See our column in this review, (...)

Aut. conc. opinion No. 11-A-08 of 10 June 2011 relating to a request for an opinion from ARCEP on the wholesale markets for interurban interterritorial segment services relating to the territorial authorities of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy In its opinion of 10 June 2011, the French (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2011-0596 of June 7, 2011 ruling on a request for settlement of a dispute between Towercast and TDF Towercast provides FM radio broadcast services to radio publishers. In order to be able to broadcast their programmes in FM mode, radio publishers must obtain a frequency (...)

BEREC, 27 May 2011, monitoring report on broadband common positions, BoR (11) 20 final On 27 May 2011, BEREC (Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications) published its report on the extent to which the practices of national regulatory authorities comply with the common (...)

As a reminder, the law of 7 December 2010 on the new organisation of the electricity market, known as the NOME law (see Concurrences n° 1-2011, pp. 172-175) introduced regulated access to historic nuclear electricity until 31 December 2025. Since its promulgation and in order to implement (...)

CJEU, 17 February 2011, The Number (UK) and Conduit Enterprises, case C-16/10 The ECJ was referred to the Court for a preliminary ruling in proceedings concerning the amounts charged by British Telecommunications (BT) to two directory enquiry service and directory services providers for (...)

This fourth roundtable of the conference "New frontiers of Antitrust", Paris, 11 February 2011, is dedicated to the procedural fairness. In the first contribution, Nils Wahl, Judge of the General Court of the European Union examines the judge’s role in the competition proceedings. In the (...)

Aut. conc. opinion No. 11-A-05 on a request for an opinion from the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (ARCEP) on the third round of analysis of the wholesale broadband and very high-speed broadband markets On 8 March 2011, the French Competition Authority (...)

CJEU, 10 March 2011, Telefónica Móviles España, Case C-85/10 In the context of a preliminary ruling, the ECJ confirmed the conformity with Directive 97/13/EC liberalising the telecommunications sector of a tax on the reservation of frequencies in the public radio domain created by the (...)

CoRDiS of the CRE, decision of 22 October 2010 on the dispute between Direct Energie and ERDF concerning the GRD-F contract In a decision dated October 22, 2010, the CoRDiS (Dispute Settlement and Sanctions Committee), which exercises the powers of the CRE (Energy Regulation Commission) in (...)

UECG, 17 February 2011, FIFA v. Committee, Case T-385/07 GCEU, 17 February 2011, UEFA v. Committee, Case T-55/08 GCEU, 17 February 2011, FIFA v. Committee, case T-68/08 The Court of First Instance of the European Union has dismissed the actions brought by FIFA and UEFA challenging the (...)

CRE, Press release of February 17, 2011 On 17 February 2011, the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) announced that its new college was taking up its duties. As a reminder, the law on the new organisation of the electricity market, known as the "NOME law", contains provisions (...)

CoRDiS of the CRE, dec. of January 21, 2011 on the dispute between Centrale solaire de Macouria 2 and Electricité de France (EDF) concerning the connection of a photovoltaic production facility to the public electricity distribution network CoRDiS rejected the requests made by the company (...)

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 11-A-02 of 20 January 2011 on the online gambling sector In this opinion, the Competition Authority examines the state of the online gambling sector after it was opened to competition by law n°2010-476 of May 12, 2010. It pronounces itself in favour of ex ante (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2010-1312 of 14 December 2010 specifying the terms and conditions for access to very high-speed fibre optic electronic communication lines throughout France, except in very dense areas. ARCEP Decision no. 2010-1312 of December 14, 2010 sets the regulatory framework for the (...)

Law nº 2010-1488 of 7 December 2010 on the new organisation of the electricity market, JORF n° 284 of 8 December 2010, p. 21467 On 24 November 2010, the National Assembly adopted, without amendment, on second reading, the bill amended by the Senate on the new organisation of the electricity (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 2010-1179 of November 4, 2010 ruling on two requests for settlement of a dispute between France Telecom and NC Numericable and between France Telecom and Numericable SAS. ARCEP has the power to intervene in the event of a dispute between operators relating to agreements for (...)

BEREC, Response to the European Commission’s consultation on the open Internet and net neutrality in Europe, 30 September 2010 On 30 September 2010, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) published its response to the consultation launched by the European (...)

Concise Aut. opinion No. 10-A-18 of 27 September 2010 on a draft ARCEP decision on the deployment of optical fibre outside very densely populated areas On September 27, at ARCEP’s request, the French Competition Authority issued an opinion on the latter’s draft decision on the deployment of (...)

In 2009 and 2010, important fora decided to address the question of due process in competition proceedings. The USCIB, the ICC, the OECD, the European Commission and all the prominent business organizations in Europe have commented on this issue. This is the logical consequence of the high (...)

Concordant Aut. opinion No. 10-A-08 of 17 May 2010 on the draft law on the new organisation of the electricity market On 14 April 2010, the Economic Affairs Committee of the National Assembly referred the draft law on the new organisation of the electricity market ("NOME") to the Competition (...)

ARCEP, July 2010, Report to Parliament on the impact of Article 17 of the Act of January 3, 2008 on the development of competition for the benefit of consumers Article 17 of Law 2008-3 of January 3, 2008 for the development of competition at the service of consumers (known as the "Chatel (...)

Concise Aut. opinion No. 10-A-13 of 14 June 2010 on the cross-use of customer bases This opinion is the result of a link between the referral for opinion of 4 July 2008 from the Minister of the Economy and the Authority’s self-referral of 14 December 2009. Like other opinions recently issued (...)

The entry of new mobile network operators into the market is subject, in addition to various economic barriers, to significant constraints due to the scarcity of spectrum resources. The possibility of imposing roaming on the networks of incumbent operators may be a response to this constraint. (...)

The Competition Authority, at the request of the Association for the Maintenance of Competition in Networks and Infrastructures (AMCRI), issued an opinion on airports on 22 February. The AMCRI’s request was intended to be forward-looking: since the reform of French airports which took place in (...)

In two decisions dated December 17, 2009 taken in the context of its dispute resolution powers, the CSA had enjoined Canal distribution to establish, before March 1, 2010, a new service plan for the Canal Sat offer, assigning in principle to the channels NRJ 12 and BFM TV the numbers 12 and 15 (...)

Since this decision is discussed in detail in the Agreements column, we will limit ourselves here to pointing out its possible scope in terms of regulatory law. In short, the Court of Appeals confirmed the protective measures ordered by the Competition Council in its decision 08-MC-01 of (...)

On February 11, 2010, the French Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) issued a decision on the guidelines for the implementation and evaluation of ERDF’s experiment on the development of low-voltage, low-power metering (online on its website: www.cre.fr). This is the Linky project, the name of (...)

Order 2010-76 of 21 January 2010 merging the banking and insurance licensing and supervisory authorities was published in the OJ of 22 January 2010. The Autorité de contrôle prudentiel (ACP) is an independent administrative authority resulting from the merger of the Commission bancaire, the (...)

Article 28 of Act No. 2009-594 of 27 May 2009 on the economic development of the French overseasdepartments and territories requires ARCEP to draw up a report presenting an overview of the development of the electronic communications sector in the French overseas departments and territories. (...)

ARCEP, decree no. 2009-1106 of December 22, 2009 specifying, pursuant to Articles L. 34-8 and L. 34-8-3 of the French Post and Electronic Communications Code, the terms and conditions for access to very high-speed fibre optic electronic communications lines and the cases in which the pooling (...)

Regulation (EC) No 1211/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009 establishing the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the Office, OJ L337, 18 December 2009, p. 1. Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament and of the (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2009-1067 of 17 December 2009 relating to the report and outcome of the procedure for granting authorisation in metropolitan France for a third-generation mobile system. On December 18, 2009, ARCEP awarded the fourth third-generation mobile phone license to Free Mobile, a (...)

CSA, Press release dated 17 December 2009, Injunction to Canal Sat to re-examine the numbering of NRJ 12 and BFM TV By decision of 17 December 2009, the CSA asked Canal Sat to grant the request of BFM TV and NRJ 12, which wanted to have channel numbers 15 and 12 in the channel numbering (...)

The CRE has published the Observatory of electricity and gas markets for the 4th quarter of 2009 (online on its website: www.cre.fr). With regard to the opening of the residential retail market during the period September-December 2009, the CRE reports an acceleration in the electricity market (...)

CRE, Deliberation of 20 November 2009, Communication on the electricity price peak of 19 October 2009 In a communication published on 20 November 2009, CRE endeavoured to draw the consequences of the peak in electricity prices that occurred on 19 October. It will be recalled that, on the (...)

In a letter sent on 12 November to the President of the European Passenger Transport Operators’ Association (EPTO), the European Commission set out its interpretation of the obligation for national authorities to gradually open up to competition during the transitional period which started on (...)

Aut. conc. opinion n° 09-A-54 of 3 November 2009 on the principles for drawing up separate accounts for gas sales to GDF end customers At the request of the CRE, the French Competition Authority issued Opinion No. 09-A-54 of 3 November 2009 on the principles for drawing up separate accounts (...)

– Concise Aut. opinion No. 09-A-43 of 27 July 2009 on a draft decree on regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity Since the adoption of the Law of 10 February 2000, which initiated the process of opening up the electricity market, the regulation of regulated tariffs has been amended (...)

The Commission, chaired by Paul Champsaur and composed of experts and members of parliament, was set up last November to make recommendations on the development and adaptation of the electricity tariff regime. The report submitted to the government on 24 April finally led to two essential (...)

EC, 31 July 2009, Electricité de Strasbourg, n° 307223 In its ruling of July 31, 2009 (CE July 31, 2009, No. 307223), following a request from SA Électricité de Strasbourg, the Conseil d’État recalled the limits of CRE’s jurisdiction with regard to determining the amount of charges related (...)

– CE, July 24, 2009, Orange France and SFR, No. 324642 and 3 24687 In this ruling, the Conseil d’État ruled on the pricing framework for voice call terminations imposed by ARCEP on mobile operators in mainland France for the period from July 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010. The high (...)

– Directive 2009/72/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity and repealing Directive 2003/54/EC, OJ L211, 14 August 2009, p. 55. Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 (...)

EC Comm, Recommendation on the Regulatory Treatment of Fixed and Mobile Termination Rates in the EU, OJ L124, 20 May 2009, p.67; see also Explanatory note SEC(2009) 600 On 7 May 2009, the European Commission published a recommendation on the regulation of fixed and mobile termination rates. (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-5, May 14, 2009, France Telecom and Orange Sports v/ Free and Neuf Cegetel, RG 09/03360on appeal against T.Com. Paris, February 23, 2009, Free and Neuf Cegetel v/ France Telecom and Orange Sports RG 2008/078679 In a judgment dated February 23, 2009, the Paris Commercial Court (...)

US Supreme Court, Pacific Bell Telephone Co. D/B/A AT &T California v. linkLine Communications, Inc. et al, No. 07-512, Feb. 25, 2009 In this judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that a scissor-pricing practice could not constitute a violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act on abuse of (...)

T. com. Paris, February 23, 2009, Free and Neuf Cegetel v/ France Télécom and Orange Sports, RG 2008/078679 This decision follows on from the call for applications launched by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (’LFP’) for the broadcasting of League 1 matches for the period 2008-2012. On (...)

French government strategy for the implementation of the digital plan, Press release of January 12, 2009 A press conference was held in Matignon on 12 January, during which the Prime Minister unveiled his strategy to accelerate the implementation of the "Digital France 2012" plan. This plan (...)

Activity report of the National Energy Ombudsman 2009 For the second consecutive year, the National Energy Ombudsman submitted his activity report. Currently held by Mr Denis Merville, a former Member of Parliament, the post was instituted by Law 2006-1537 of 7 December 2006 and by (...)

The set of six articles covers a wide panel of points of views ten years after the 1999 EC Directive. Readers will be able to read the following contributions: 1. Update on Wholesale Energy Market Regulation - Philippe Redaelli, General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer, Powernext; 2. (...)

ARCEP, Opinion No. 2008-1175 of November 4, 2008 on the request for an opinion from the French Competition Council on the practices of France Telecom, Orange France and Apple Europe in the mobile telephony distribution sector (iPhone) Conc. conc. dec. no. 08-MC-01 of December 17, 2008 relating (...)

ARCEP, November 18, 2008, public consultation on the analysis of the wholesale market for audiovisual broadcasting services - assessment and perspectives On November 18, 2008, ARCEP put out for public consultation an analysis of the results and prospects for the development of the regulation (...)

Draft law on the organization and regulation of rail and guided transport and on various provisions relating to transport, 10 September 2008 This draft law, adopted by the Council of Ministers on 10 September, is part of the plan to open up the rail sector to competition. This opening up was (...)

This is a set of 5 articles on Resale Price Maintenance. This topic has recently been debated following the US Supreme Court Leegin ruling and the draft French reform of the antitrust act. The first article is written by 2 leading economists on the economic debate on the welfare effects of (...)

Conc. conc. opinion No. 08-A-06 of 6 May 2008 on a draft legislative provision concerning the development of very high-speed fibre optic networks (LME Bill) ARCEP, 18 June 2008, notification to the European Commission and public consultation on the analysis of the broadband and very high speed (...)

EC, 6 August 2008, Association Vent de Colère - National Federation and Association Vent du Bocage, n°297723 The promotion and development of renewable energy is at the heart of the European Union’s energy strategy. They are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the (...)

CSA, dec. no. 2008-523 of 8 July 2008 relating to a dispute between AB Sat and Métropole Télévision The entry into force on August 5 of the law on the modernisation of the economy reinforced the principle of contractual freedom by abolishing the tort of discriminatory practice provided for (...)

A key measure of the third regulatory package relating to the liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets (third "Energy" package), the separation of supply and production activities from transmission network management activities has given rise to intense negotiations since 19 September (...)

Lorsque les Français évoquent les bienfaits attendus d’une "véritable politique industrielle européenne", ils sont immédiatement suspectés d’être d’incorrigibles interventionnistes, de dangereux doctrinaires du patriotisme économique, voire les défenseurs zélés de secteurs en déclin... Leur (...)

EC Comm, 23 January 2008, Proposal for a directive of the European parliament and of the Council on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, COM(2008)0019 final - COD 2008/0016 The issues of sustainable development and the fight against global warming are now a major (...)

EC Comm, 30 April 2008, Communication on the application of Regulation (EEC) No 95/93 on common rules for the allocation of slots at Community airports, as amended, COM(2008) 227 In order to ensure the safety of air transport, it is necessary to regulate aircraft departures and arrivals at (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2008-0002 of 5 February 2008 on La Poste’s tariff file of 13 December 2007 relating to national parcel products covered by the universal service. Although the date for the full opening of the postal market to competition has been postponed to 1 January 2011 (the original date (...)

1. Our third round table, during which we welcome Karel Van Miert, former European Commissioner in charge of competition, and Élie Cohen, economist and researcher at the CNRS, is devoted to the topic "Innovation and R&D: is a new competition policy needed in the light of the Lisbon (...)

Law No. 2008-66 of 21 January 2008 on regulated electricity and natural gas tariffs Not a year now goes by without the regulatory framework applicable to regulated gas and electricity supply rates changing. The Law of 21 January 2008 on regulated electricity and natural gas tariffs (...)

ARCEP, 19 December 2007, public consultation on the analysis of wholesale broadband and very high speed broadband markets Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Employment, 13 December 2007, consultation on legislative measures to promote the deployment of very high-speed broadband in (...)

CE, 10 December 2007, Syndicat Professionnel des Entreprises Locales Gazières and others, n° 275093, 275096 and 275655 CE, December 10, 2007, Société Poweo and Fédération Française des combustibles, carburants et chauffage (FF3C), n° 289012 and 289776 CE, December 10, 2007, Poweo Company, n° (...)

EC Comm, 13 November 2007, Proposal for a Regulation of the European parliament and of the Council establishing the European Electronic Communications Market Authority, COM (2007) 699 As we noted in the previous issue of our review, on 13 November 2007, the European Commission presented its (...)

ARCEP, July 27, 2007, public consultations on very high speed broadband (access to ducts and sharing of the terminal part of fibre networks) At the end of July 2007, ARCEP published two public consultations on the development of so-called "new generation" networks in France. At a time when (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2007-0862 of 9 October 2007 relating to the report and outcome of the procedure for granting authorisation in mainland France for a third-generation mobile system. On 21 February, François Loos, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, officially launched the call for (...)

EC Comm, 19 September 2007, Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/54/EC concerning common rules for the internal market in electricity, COM (2007) 0528, SEC(2007) 1179 SEC(2007) 1180 EC Comm, 19 September 2007, Proposal for a Directive (...)

EC Comm, 19 September 2007, Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing an Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, COM (2007) 0530, SEC(2007) 1179 SEC(2007) 1180 Wishing to relaunch the process of liberalisation of the energy markets, the (...)

The multiplication of "market authorities" - competition authorities and sectoral regulators - and the development of their means of action on the market raise the question of the coherence and the convergence of the institutional and procedural framework in which they operate. After a general (...)

There are plenty of discrepancies in the way competition authorities and independent regulators are dealing with the protection of business secret. The tables of this article provide an overview of the different texts governing this topic, as well as the different definitions of what business (...)

CRE, communication of 6 June 2007 on the development of low-voltage low-power electricity metering (≤ 36 kVA) The electricity metering activity will undoubtedly be an important tool in the opening of the electricity market to competition. Since electricity is a commodity with the same (...)

The Prime Minister entrusted the Centre d’Analyse Stratégique with the task of reflecting, by setting up a commission for this purpose, on France’s energy policy for 2050. Following on from the reports that the Planning Commission draws up every ten years or so, the commission, chaired by Jean (...)

According to an article published in the newspaper Les Echos on 11 April 2007, the Conseil d’État issued an unfavourable opinion on the draft decree relating to the financial compensation mechanism intended to compensate suppliers whose one or more customers request the benefit of the "return (...)

Article 24 of Act No. 2007-290 of 5 March 2007 establishing the enforceable right to housing and various measures in favour of social cohesion, JORF No. 55 of 6 March 2007 p. 4190 Many thought that the Constitutional Council’s decision No. 2006-543 DC of 30 November 2006 concerning the law (...)

Cons. const. dec. no. 2007-550 DC of 27 February 2007, "television of the future". Law No. 2007-309 of 5 March 2007 on the modernisation of audiovisual broadcasting and the television of the future, JORF of 7 March 2007 Despite an unfavorable opinion from ARCEP (opinion no. 2006-078 dated (...)

In order to loosen the constraints on access to the French mobile telephony market, dominated by three operators whose cartel was recently denounced by the Competition Council, one of the means devised is to allow new entrants to use the network of the big three by concluding agreements with (...)

Paris Court of Appeal, Gaz de France v Altergaz, 23 January 2007, 06/06163 Altergaz, a new entrant on the gas supply market, has requested to benefit from storage capacities held by Gaz de France in order to be able to secure the supply of its future customers. It is well known that, in (...)

Law n° 2006-1537 of 7 December 2006 relating to the energy sector, JORF n° 284 of 8 December 2006 p. 18531 Cons. const. dec. no. 2006-543 DC of 30 November 2006, Law on the energy sector, JORF no. 284 of 8 December 2006 p. 18544 The decision of the Constitutional Council n° 2006-543 DC of 30 (...)

ARCEP, decree no. 06-0639 of November 30, 2006 specifying the conditions for making lists of subscribers and users available for the purpose of publishing universal directories or providing universal information services, JORF no. 71 of March 24, 2007. On March 8, 2007, the Minister Delegate (...)

Report of the Committee on the Intangible Economy of 23 November 2006, "The Intangible Economy - Tomorrow’s Growth". At the request of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, a commission, chaired by Maurice Lévy (Chairman of the Publicis Group’s Management Board) and Jean-Pierre (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 06-0779 of September 14, 2006 on the pricing framework for "direct" voice call termination rates for 2007 for Orange France, Société Française du Radiotéléphone and Bouygues Telecom in France and abroad. In 2004, ARCEP analyzed the competitive situation in the markets for (...)

CRE, Deliberation of July 20, 2006 on the principles for keeping separate accounts for supply activities to eligible customers and supply activities to non-eligible customers applicable to Gaz de France Cons. conc. opinion no. 06-A-12 of 30 June 2006 on the establishment by GDF of separate (...)

CE, July 7, 2006, Poweo and Fédération Française des combustibles, carburants et chauffage (FF3C), n° 289012 and 289776 Pursuant to the provisions of Law No 2003-8 of 3 January 2003 on the gas and electricity markets and the public energy service, non-eligible customers, as well as eligible (...)

CRE, Deliberation of June 14, 2006 on the principles, applicable to Electricité de France, of keeping separate accounts for supply activities to eligible customers and supply activities to non-eligible customers Cons. conc. opinion no. 05-A-19 of October 20, 2005 on the principles to be (...)

Council of the EU, Political agreement with a view to the adoption of a common position on an amended proposal for a Regulation on public service obligations for passenger transport services by rail and by road, 12 June 2006 Press release 10042/06 (Presse 167) On 9 June last, the Council of (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 06-0551 of May 30, 2006 ruling on a dispute between France Telecom and Neuf Télécom In a decision dated May 30, 2006, the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Électroniques et des Postes (ARCEP) ruled on a request for settlement of a dispute between France Telecom and (...)

T.A. Strasbourg, 27 April 2006, Air France, aff. 0402795 and 0404570 The Board of Directors of Basel-Mulhouse airport had introduced three changes to the "passenger fee": a strongly degressive rate based on the number of passengers carried (five bands had been defined), a three-year tariff (...)

EC Commission, Press Release IP/06/430 of 4 April 2006, 28 letters of formal notice addressed to 17 Member States - Incorrect transposition or incorrect application of EU energy law EC Commission, MEMO/06/152 At the presentation on 16 February 2006 of the interim findings of the two (...)

Preliminary report and speeches by Andris Piebalgs and Neelie Kroes Launched in June 2005, the Commission’s sector inquiry had already led to the publication of an initial findings document on 15 November 2005. In February 2006, three voluminous documents were published, entitled (...)

CSA, deliberation of 24 January 2006 on the implementation of article 30-3 of the law of 30 September 1986 On 24 January 2006, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel adopted a deliberation in which it clarified its interpretation of Articles 30-3 and 95 II of the law of 30 September 1986, as (...)

Law n° 2005-1720 of December 30, 2005 of rectifying finance for 2005 (Supply Consortium for the benefit of electro-intensive industries) Conc. conc. opinion No 05-A-23 of 5 December 2005 on a proposed scheme to allow electro-intensive industries to benefit from specific conditions for the (...)

CRE, Decision of 1 December 2005 on the implementation of the work programmes known as "roadmaps" concerning the procedures for allocating interconnection capacities in 2006 and taking into account the CJEC ruling C-17/03 of 7 June 2005 CRE, Annual report on compliance with codes of conduct (...)

ARCEP, dec. no. 2005-929 of November 8, 2005 ruling on a dispute between Bouygues Telecom and Orange France (price of call termination services for SMS) ARCEP, dec. no. 2005-930 of November 8, 2005 ruling on a dispute between Bouygues Telecom and SFR (price of SMS termination services). In (...)

ARCEP, Dec. No. 05-0425 of September 27, 2005 on the definition of relevant markets for the termination of geographical calls on alternative fixed networks, the designation of operators exercising significant influence on these markets and the ARCEP, decree no. 05-0571 of September 27, 2005 on (...)

Decree n°2005-1069 of 30 August 2005, JORF n°202 of 31 August 2005, p.14096 In a previous column (Concurrences , No. 1-2005, p. 115), we were wondering about the practical consequences of spinning off this activity into a subsidiary, with regard to the management independence that the (...)

Law n°2005-781 of 13 July 2005 on the programme setting the orientations of the energy policy, JORF n°163 of 14 July 2005, p. 11570 Corrigendum A few months ago, in these same columns (Concurrences , No. 1-2005, p. 120), we had raised, on the occasion of the adoption by the Commission de (...)

ARCEP, June 15, 2005, Draft decision on the analysis of fixed telephony markets As part of the application of the new regulatory framework governing the electronic communications sector, the Autorité de Régulation des Communications Electroniques et des Postes ("ARCEP" ex-ART) submitted its (...)

Privileged access to interconnectors: Unless a derogation is granted by the Commission, a reservation of capacity is incompatible with Community law. ECJ, 7 June 2005, Vereniging voor Energie, Milieu en Water a. o., case C-17/03 Reference has been made to the Court of Justice of the (...)

The incremental costs test is now currently used by the competition authorities. However, the various criteria of this test are subject of intense debates among scholars and practionners. This article gathers four different points of view on this issue, among which an economist, a lawyer, a (...)

Cons. const. 14 April 2005, Law on Airports, No. 2005-513 DC Law No. 2005-357 of 20 April 2005 on airports Decree No. 2005-827 of 20 July 2005 on charges for services rendered at airports The law of 20 April 2005, which changed the legal status of airports, in particular that of Aéroports de (...)

CE Sect, February 25, 2005, France Telecom, n° 247866 The Council of State’s ruling of 25 February this year is of twofold interest. Firstly, while annulling the ART’s decision, it confirms that the authority had the power, pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) 2887/2000 of 18 December (...)

Decree No. 2005-63 of 27 January 2005 on electricity transfer tariffs to non-nationalised distributors The latest issue of this review (see the column "Regulations", p. 120) referred to the conditions under which, pursuant to Article 4 of the Law of 10 February 2000, as amended, an eligible (...)

CRE, Communication of 23 December 2004 on the conditions for exercising eligibility for the purchase of electricity and natural gas Following a public consultation that it launched on 25 October last, CRE adopted a communication on 23 December 2004 on the conditions for exercising (...)

ART, dec. n° 04-936 of 9 December 2004 on the determination of relevant markets for voice call termination on mobile networks in metropolitan France. ART, dec. no. 04-937 of December 9, 2004 concerning the significant influence of Orange France on the wholesale market for the termination of (...)

ECJ, 9 December 2004, Approved Prescription Services v. Licensing Authority, Case C-36/03. ECJ, 20 January 2005, SmithKline Beecham, Case C-74/03 Decree No. 2005-156 of 18 February 2005 on changes to marketing authorisations for medicinal products for human use and amending the Public Health (...)

EC Commission, Letter of 22 November 2004 concerning Law No 2004-803 of 9 August 2004 (on the public service of electricity and gas and on electricity and gas companies) Law No. 2004-803 of 9 August 2004 on the public electricity and gas service and on electricity and gas companies Law (...)

The Director General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control has requested the opinion of the Commission d’examen des pratiques commerciales (CEPC), pursuant to Article L. 440-1, paragraphs 3 and 4 of the French Commercial Code, on clauses that exclude any sanction from the (...)

Consulted by the Director-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control, CEPC has taken a position on several types of clauses in the purchasing conditions of distributors. In its opinion, the Commission begins by listing certain clauses which, because of their asymmetrical (...)