Hélène Fricaudet

On October 11, 2021, the French Competition Authority [the "Authority"] published a draft framework document on competition compliance programs and put it out for public comment in order to update the framework document published in 2012, which was withdrawn following the reform of the (...)

A new twist in the dispute over the legality of the visit and seizure operations (hereinafter, "OVS") at the premises of the Whirlpool company... Indeed, for the second time in three years, the Criminal Division of the French Supreme Court censured the first president of the Paris Court of (...)

By a decision dated 24 March 2021, the French Competition Authority ["the Authority"] sanctioned three companies active on the market for the manufacture and marketing of cold industrial sandwiches sold under private labels ["MDD"] to large and medium-sized food stores ["GSA"] and service (...)

In recent times, the Court of Cassation has intervened twice on the issue of the seizability of correspondence exchanged between a lawyer and his client. These two rulings illustrate not only the increasingly strict approach of the competition authorities (the first case concerns the DGCCRF, (...)

In a judgment dated July 8, 2020, the Paris Court of Appeal ["the Court of Appeal"] cancelled the visits and seizures carried out by the Competition Authority ["the Authority"] at Whirlpool ’s premises in 2014. On 27 and 28 May 2014, the Authority had conducted a search of the premises of (...)

On 29 January 2020, the Court of Cassation handed down two judgments specifying the obligations incumbent on the Authority’s General Rapporteur when he decides to lift the protection previously granted to documents in the investigation file under the secrecy of business. Although the facts (...)

As part of an educational approach and to reflect on its practice, the Competition [Authority] published on 17 January 2020 a study dedicated to behavioural commitments, an instrument that has become a major instrument in the implementation of competition law. Written in partnership with the (...)

While Act No. 2019-486 of 22 May 2019 relating to the growth and transformation of enterprises, commonly referred to as the PACTE Act, granted Competition Authority and DGCCRF officials in charge of investigating alleged anti-competitive practices the possibility of accessing the connection (...)

In the context of the investigation of a referral by an operator active in the PlayStation 4 compatible control accessories sector of practices implemented by the Sony group on the market for eighth-generation static video game consoles and PlayStation 4 compatible control accessories, the (...)

Article L. 420-6 C. com. has long been of concern (see Cl. Lucas de Leyssac, L’inquiétant article L. 420-6 C. com., in La sanction des pratiques anticoncurrentielles par recours à l’article L. 420-6 C. com., 5e journée Christian Gavalda, Concurrences No. 1-2008, p. 21). The recent ruling of (...)

On 10 and 12 December, the Commission published a decision and two sets of guidelines aimed at regulating or clarifying the right of access to the file and personal data of companies involved in competition law proceedings. New Commission decision on the processing of personal data in (...)

The Decision of the Competition Authority (hereinafter the ’Authority’) of 5 December 2018 on practices in the household appliances sector is an important decision in the context of the implementation of leniency at national level. Indeed, in addition to the fact that, in the present case, the (...)

The period under review provides a further illustration of a sanction by the Competition Authority for failure to comply with commitments entered into by an undertaking in the context of a procedure for non-contestation of objections. Decisions are still relatively rare, since - unless I am (...)