Anne Wachsmann

In a decision of September 9, 2020, the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") sanctioned Novartis, Roche and Genentech for abusive practices aimed at safeguarding sales of the drug Lucentis for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration ("AMD") to the detriment of the drug (...)

In a judgment dated June 10, 2020, the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) dismissed an appeal against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal (the "Court of Appeal"), which had itself confirmed, in a judgment dated October 12, 2017, Decision No. 15-D-10 of June 11, 2015 by which the (...)

In a decision of 30 April 2020, the Competition Authority (the Authority) rejected the substantive referral of the Molotov company (Molotov) and, consequently, the associated request for interim measures filed against the M6 and TF1 groups. Molotov is a platform that broadcasts television (...)

In a decision dated 16 March 2020 (not available at the time of writing; see press release), the Authority fined Apple €1.1 billion for practices concerning the distribution of its products (excluding iPhones) in France. Its wholesalers Tech Data and Ingram Micro were also fined €76.1 million and (...)

In a judgment of 30 January 2020 handed down on a reference for a preliminary ruling by the Competition Appeal Tribunal of the United Kingdom, the Court of Justice of the European [Union Court of Justice] provides interesting clarifications with regard to both the concept of anti-competitive (...)

In a judgment dated November 14, 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal (the "Court of Appeal") annulled the decision of the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") rendered on September 20, 2018 which had sanctioned SANICORSE, jointly and severally with its parent company, SAS Groupe Cesarini, (...)

By a decision of 22 August 2019, the Polynesian Competition Authority (the ’Polynesian Authority’) fined the Wane Group approximately EUR 2 million (235 million Pacific Francs) for abusing its dominant position by imposing excessive prices on its suppliers in order to allow them to benefit from a (...)

By a judgment of 11 July 2019, the Paris Court of Appeal largely confirmed the decision of the Competition Authority (’the Authority’) No 17-D-25 of 20 December 2017 which had sanctioned the Janssen-Cilag laboratory, and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, for first delaying and then (...)

In a decision of 13 May 2019, the European Commission (the "Commission") sanctioned AB InBev to the tune of €200 million for abuse of a dominant position on the Belgian beer market. This decision is interesting in that it concerns conduct intended to hinder parallel imports between Member (...)

Three years after the introduction of the settlement procedure into the tools available to the Competition Authority, the Authority was able to witness the success and the very strong development of this procedure, with companies increasingly soliciting its application. Before the adoption of (...)

In a decision of 17 December 2013, the Authority had condemned EDF for abuse of a dominant position on the market for services to private individuals wishing to become photovoltaic electricity producers (Decision No 13-D-20 of 17 December 2013 concerning practices implemented by EDF in the (...)

By a decision of 16 January 2019, the Competition Authority (the ’Authority’) found that there was no need to continue the proceedings initiated following the referral of the companies Gibovendée and L’Envol de Retz (the ’referrals’). The latter contested the fact that three shipping companies, (...)

In a judgment delivered on 12 December 2018, the Court of First Instance of the European Union (the "Court") sanctioned the European Commission (the "Commission") for having committed a series of errors in its analysis of the definition of the relevant market to which perindopril, an (...)

In a decision issued on 20 September 2018, the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") sanctioned Sanicorse, jointly and severally with its parent company, SAS Groupe Cesarini, for an abuse of a dominant position in the form of excessive prices. Sanicorse is a company active in the (...)

By a decision of 27 June 2018, the Competition Authority (the Authority) found that there was no need to continue the proceedings initiated following the referral by the Econocom Group (Econocom) concerning alleged practices by the IT manufacturers IBM, HP and Oracle in the hardware maintenance (...)

The Competition Authority had fined TDF for having, in the context of France Télévisions’ invitations to tender for the switchover of television broadcasting to digital format (DTT) in the overseas territories, unreasonably delayed hosting bids and for having failed to include certain decisive (...)

In a judgment delivered on 17 May 2018, the Paris Court of Appeal essentially confirmed Decision 16-D-14 on practices in the zinc and zinc products for the building industry (Aut. conc., dec. no. 16-D-14 of 23 June 2016 on practices in the rolled zinc and zinc products for the building (...)

By Decision No 17-D-25 of 20 December 2017, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") sanctioned Janssen-Cilag, and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, to the tune of €25 million for first delaying and then limiting the development of generics of its drug, Durogesic. In so doing, the (...)

In a judgment dated December 18, 2017, the Paris Commercial Court ordered Orange to pay 179 million euros in damages to Bouygues Telecom Caraïbe, a subsidiary of the Bouygues Telecom Group, which was acquired by the Digicel Group ("Bouygues"). This is the largest damages award in the context of (...)

In the sector of online event-driven sales, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") had not hesitated to rely on the shortcomings of the investigation to put an end to proceedings brought by Brandalley, which accused Vente-privée.com of having imposed exclusivity clauses on the major brands (...)

By Decision No 17-D-21 of 9 November 2017, the Competition Authority (the ’Authority’) accepts and makes binding commitments offered by Schneider Electric in the sector of maintenance of medium-voltage (’MV’) and low-voltage (’LV’) electrical distribution equipment. MV and LV electrical distribution (...)

Following a complaint lodged by the European Confederation of Watchmakers’ Repairers’ Associations ("CEAHR") against six luxury watch manufacturers (Swatch, LVMH, Rolex, Richemont, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet), which it accused of an agreement and abuse of a dominant position, the European (...)

In this case, the Société du Figaro accused the Drouot group, and in particular its subsidiary Drouot Enchère, of imposing on voluntary sales operators ("VSOs") the exclusive and mandatory use of the Drouot Live platform for the online retransmission of catalogued sales taking place in the rooms (...)

In a judgment of 14 September 2017, the Court of First Instance of the European Union (the "Court") confirmed a decision rejecting a complaint by the European Commission (the "Commission") in a case concerning the issue of interoperability between software from different suppliers and the (...)

By Decision No 17-D-15 of 9 August 2017, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") rejects the referral and the application for interim relief by the Fédération des Industries Nautiques ("FIN"). The latter had complained of an abuse of economic dependence by the company Reed Expositions France (...)

The Competition Authority ("the Authority") has fined Comtet EUR 80 000 for two abuses of a dominant position in the funeral services sector. With regard to funeral services, crematoria are set up and managed by municipalities and public establishments for intermunicipal cooperation (article (...)

Mrs. Isabelle de Silva, the new President of the French Competition Authority, explains in this interview the Authority’s role and its priorities in the french, european and international context. Interview conducted by Anne Wachsmann, Linklaters, Paris. A wind of renewal is blowing in France. (...)

By Decision No 17-D-09 of 1 June 2017, the Competition Authority (’the Authority’) accepts and makes binding commitments offered by the National Institute for Archaeological Research (’INRAP’). This case presents fairly classic competition law issues. INRAP is an EPA with a monopoly position on (...)

In a decision dated March 1, 2017, the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) dismissed the Amaury group’s appeal against the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision, which had upheld the Competition Authority’s decision against the Amaury group for eviction practices against Le Journal du Sport (CA (...)

In a judgment of 8 February 2017, the Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal of Roland Vlaemynck Tisseur against the judgment of the Paris Court of Appeal which had upheld the decision of the Competition Authority rejecting a complaint for an alleged abuse of a dominant position relating to an (...)

In this short but interesting decision, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") sanctions a system of fixed prices set up by the company Obut, active in the production and marketing of leisure and competition petanque balls, from the point of view of an abuse of a dominant position. It (...)

In this case, the company Pétanque Longue, active in the marketing of pétanque equipment and in particular Obut branded boules, contested the implementation by its supplier, the company La Boule Obut, of new pricing conditions for the year 2016. La Boule Obut had sent its resellers, a fortnight (...)

Advocate General Wahl delivered his Opinion on 20 October 2016 in Intel v Commission, whose judgment of the Court of Justice is eagerly awaited, not only because in that case the European Commission had imposed the highest individual fine ever (EUR 1.06 billion) in its decision of 13 May 2009 (...)

The Competition Authority had fined TDF for having, in the context of France Télévisions’ calls for tenders for the switchover of television broadcasting to digital format (DTT) in the overseas territories, delayed the hosting offers without valid reasons, and for having failed to include certain (...)

This decision will be the subject of a commentary in No. 4-2016 of this review. Concurrences.

On 23 June 2016, the Belgian Competition Authority imposed a heavy sanction on the Belgian zinc producer Umicore for having imposed exclusive purchasing obligations on its authorized distributors for nine years between 1999 and the end of 2007 prohibiting them from selling products competing (...)

In the field of online event-driven sales, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") had not hesitated to rely on the shortcomings of the investigation in order to terminate a procedure (Aut. conc., Dec. No. 14-D-18 of 28 Nov. 2014 on practices in the field of online event-driven sales, comm. (...)

Swiss Post has a number of companies, including Mediapost, which specializes in the distribution of advertising leaflets in letterboxes. Two of its competitors, Imperial Pub and Gps had brought actions against La Poste and Mediapost before the Paris Commercial Court seeking compensation for (...)

The Competition Authority had been referred to it by the company Celtipharm, which accused the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés (the "CNAMTS") and GIE SESAM-Vitale (the "GIE") of having refused it access to an essential infrastructure, namely real-time access to the (...)

Following an investigation by the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir and two reports by the IGAS and the Court of Auditors, the Authority is examining the competitive situation in the hearing aid sector. The French market is in fact characterised by a lower rate of fitting than neighbouring (...)

The company E-Kanopi (E-Kanopi), which operates several websites, has "Adwords" and "AdSense" accounts opened with Google in order to use the latter’s online advertising services. Google had suspended those accounts for a period of time because of non-compliance with its general terms and (...)

The French Competition Authority ("the Authority") has once again sanctioned TDF, a company specialising in the broadcasting of audiovisual services and former holder of the monopoly on radio and television broadcasting, in a case involving the eviction of a competitor when renewing concessions (...)

In a decision dated May 15, 2015, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld in its entirety the decision of the French Competition Authority which had sanctioned the Amaury group for practices of eviction against the company Le Journal du Sport (decision no. 14-D-02 of February 20, 2014 relating to (...)

The decision of the Paris Commercial Court (the "Court") of 30 March 2015 is part of the so-called follow-up civil actions, initiated by plaintiffs who consider themselves victims of anti-competitive practices, following decisions adopted by the French Competition Authority (the "Authority"). (...)

CA Paris, Feb. 26, 2015, ECMA The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the Competition Authority which had sanctioned the Order of Chartered Accountants and the ECMA association, created by the latter to market the accounting and tax declaration portal "jedeclare.com", in the sector (...)

Decision No. 15-D-01 of 5 Feb. 2015 on practices in the sector of over-the-air television broadcasting in overseas territories. The French Competition Authority ("the Authority") has shown on numerous occasions that it ensures compliance with competition law in the overseas territories and (...)

In a sector such as the Internet, where markets are made and unmake quickly, the Competition Authority ("the Authority") has not hesitated to rely on the shortcomings of the investigation in order to terminate proceedings, while alerting market players to the fragility of certain exclusivity (...)

The Competition Authority ("the Authority") is issuing a new decision on the borderline between public law and competition law, following a referral by Nautech, a company active in ship repair, and more particularly in the repair of large and very large pleasure craft (over 40 metres in (...)

The Competition Authority had been seized by the company Celtipharm, which accused the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie des Travailleurs Salariés (the "CNAMTS") and GIE SESAM-Vitale (the "GIE") of having refused it access to an essential infrastructure, namely real-time access to the data (...)

If the respect of competition law in the funeral market raised interesting questions in its time, it is the obituary publication sector that is now the subject of a ruling by the Paris Court of Appeal (the "Court"), handed down on appeal from a judgment of the Lyon Commercial Court of 30 April (...)

The Competition Authority ("the Authority") has just issued a new decision on abusive disparagement, imposing a fine of €1.67 million on Société Nouvelle des Yaourts de Littée ("SNYL"). SNYL is active in the dairy production sector. Established in Martinique, it manufactures in particular (...)

The company E-Kanopi ("E-Kanopi"), which operates several websites, has "Adwords" and "AdSense" accounts opened with Google in order to use the latter’s online advertising services. Google had suspended those accounts for a period of time due to non-compliance with its general terms and (...)

The judgment of the Court of First Instance in the Intel case was eagerly awaited. Not only had this case led the European Commission (the "Commission") to impose the highest individual fine ever imposed (EUR 1.06 billion) in its decision of 13 May 2009 (EC Commission, Dec. C(2009) 3726 final (...)

By a judgment of 27 February 2014, the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed in its entirety Decision 12-D-21 of 18 October 2012 issued by the French Competition Authority ("the Authority") (Aut. conc., 18 October 2012, dec. no. 12-D-21 relating to practices identified in the baggage delivery sector (...)

The decision of the Competition Authority (hereinafter ’the Authority’) of 20 February 2014 concerning daily sports newspapers provides an interesting example of exclusionary abuse based on economically non-rational behaviour, i.e. giving rise to a financial sacrifice going beyond the usual (...)

In a decision of 6 April 2012, the Competition Authority (’the Authority’) partially dismissed the complaint of Roland Vlaemynck Tisseur (’RVT’) against Mewa (’Mewa’) and postponed the investigation of a possible de facto exclusivity (’Aut. conc, Dec. No 12-D-11 of 6 April 2012 concerning a referral (...)

With the publication on the same day of a decision and an opinion, the Competition Authority (the "Authority") closes a rich year for the pharmaceutical sector in 2013. The European Commission adopted two decisions (not yet published) on pay-for-delay in the Lundbeckcases of 19 June 2013. (...)

For the first time, the French Competition Authority (the "Authority") has ruled on the competitive impact of a transfer-expansion of a large food retailer, i.e. a purely internal growth operation. The Authority’s interest in the large-scale food retail sector ---- First of all, it should be (...)

Altimat, which operates several retail stores in the building materials sector, had referred to the Authority possible practices implemented by the Weldom group, the head of a chain of stores specialising in the retail sale of DIY articles. Altimat accused the Weldom group of having, in the (...)

In a decision of 6 April 2012, the Competition Authority had partially dismissed the case by rejecting the complaint of Roland Vlaemynck Tisseur (’RVT’) against Mewa (’Mewa’) and by referring the examination of a possible de facto exclusivity to the investigation (see Aut. conc, Dec. No. 12-D-11 of (...)

The Messageries lyonnaises de presse (MLP) had referred the matter to the Authority to challenge certain decisions adopted by the Conseil supérieur des messageries de presse (CSMP). The MLP also accused Presstalis, another press messaging company, of several anti-competitive practices. This (...)

Following a complaint lodged by the Fédération nationale des associations de gestion agréées ("FNAGA") concerning practices implemented in the sector of the remote transmission of accounting and tax data from enterprises and the liberal professions to the tax authorities, the Competition Authority (...)

(see also, "Agreements" column, this issue, obs. N. Jalabert Doury) The union of branded opticians (SynOpE) and the companies Optiswiss and Balou Holding, both active in the manufacture and distribution of optical products, had referred to the Competition Authority practices implemented by the (...)

The company E-Kanopi, which operates several websites, has "Adwords" and "AdSense" accounts opened with Google in order to use the latter’s services in terms of online advertising. Google had suspended those accounts for a time because of non-compliance with its general terms and conditions and (...)

The Competition Authority (the "Authority") recalls, under the terms of its Decision No 13-D-08 of 15 April 2013, that competition law is not intended to give small businesses complete freedom to establish themselves as partners of dominant companies. In this case, the Centr’Halles company held (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-29 of 21 December 2012 relating to practices identified in the sector of distribution of supplementary insurance for golf players By a decision accepting commitments, the Competition Authority closes a new case combining a public service remit and separate economic (...)

CJEU, 6 December 2012, AstraZeneca AB and AstraZeneca plc v Commission, C-457/10 P The judgment of the Court of Justice of 6 December 2012 brings to a close the judicial saga relating to the decision of the European Commission (the "Commission") which for the first time sanctioned the misuse (...)

Aut. conc., 18.10.12, Dec. No. 12-D-21 relating to practices noted in the baggage delivery sector at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. The Competition Authority has decided on its competence to examine certain practices of Aéroports de Paris (ADP). In this case, the complainant was a newly (...)

ECN Subgroup Food, ECN Activities in the food sector, Report on competition law enforcement and market monitoring activities by European competition authorities in the food sector, May 2012 It was recently noted in this column that the competition situation in the food distribution sector was (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 12-D-11 of 6 April 2012 concerning a referral by Roland Vlaemynck Tisseur against practices implemented in the sector of manufacturing and marketing of industrial towels The Competition Authority (hereinafter the ’Authority’) reminds us, in its Decision No 12-D-11 of 6 April (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-15 of 16 November 2011 relating to practices implemented by Sogarel in the sector of car parks for passengers at Lille airport Where it is learned that a certificate written by the complainant’s mother, contrary to the school’s apology, has no probative value before the (...)

Concord Aut. dec. no. 11-D-20 of December 16, 2011 relating to practices implemented by Carrefour in the food retail sector Continued... and end of the Carrefour case concerning the contractual practices of this group with respect to one of its franchisees under the Champion brand. Indeed, in (...)

Aut. conc., Dec. n° 12-D-04 of 23 January 2012 relating to practices implemented in the sector of the provision of meteorological information to professionals, "Météo-France". The requirement for a clear accounting separation between the monopoly and competitive activities of public undertakings (...)

Aut. conc. opinion No. 12-A-01 of 11 January 2012 on the competitive situation in the food distribution sector in Paris And three! The competition situation in the food distribution sector seems to be clearly in the Authority’s sights. After the two notices published on 7 December 2010 (notice (...)

(See also, infra, "Procedures" column, obs. C. Lemaire and S. Naudin) In the context of proceedings following a complaint by the company Météo Consult, the Competition Authority examined the reality of the separation between the public service missions of Météo France and its commercial activity. (...)

Council Decision of 12 July 2012 on practices implemented in the press distribution sector. Unilateral practices - Unfair eviction - Commitments - Press distribution sector - Contract termination clause : The Competition Authority accepts commitments offered by a press distribution company (...)

This set of papers is derived from the training session on the Parallel trade organised by Concurrences Review that has held on the 12th April 2011. In the first contribution, Gautier Duflos, of the economic office of the Competition Authority explains that parallel trade exploits price (...)

Concordant Aut. dec. no. 11-D-08 of April 27, 2011 relating to practices implemented by Accentiv’Kadeos (See also, "Agreements" column, supra, obs. N. Jalabert-Doury) For once, we will comment in this column on a decision applying Article L.420 1 of the Commercial Code in a case where the (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 11-D-04 of February 23, 2011 relating to practices implemented by Carrefour in the food distribution sector Currently, the retail sector is under the supervision of the Competition Authority (the "Authority"). Following a sector inquiry initiated by a self-regulatory (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 10-D-37 of 17 December 2010 concerning practices implemented on the cetirizine tablet market Under French law, the pharmaceutical sector is under the active surveillance of the competition authorities and is today one of the privileged areas of application (or attempted (...)

Trib. EU, 15 December 2010, CEAHR v Commission, Case T-427/08 The European Confederation of Watchmakers’ Repairers’ Associations ("CEAHR") brought a case before the European Commission ("the Commission") against six manufacturers of luxury watches for alleged cartel practices and abuse of a (...)

Prosecuting Cartels in France and in Germany, Introductory papers : The Bundeskartellamt’s New Organization and Policies Andreas MUNDT President of the Bundeskartellamt 1. In an increasingly international environment where it is standard practice for businesses to operate not in several (...)

The decision of the European Commission (the "Commission") of 15 June 2005 in the AstraZeneca case (Commission, 15 June 2005, AstraZeneca, Case 37.507) was one of the first cases in the field of pharmaceuticals dealing with the commercial policy of a laboratory holding an originator product in (...)

This three short papers summarize the main points of the training course Law & Economics held on March18th 2010 on “Efficiency gains and horizontal merger control” by Concurrences. The importance of considering efficiencies cannot be underestimated, as shown in the Guidance on the (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 23 March 2010, CEGAPE v. Aut. conc., Dec. No. 09-D-16 of April 8, 2009 on practices implemented in the area of human resources data management software and payroll management for universities It will be recalled that the Cégape, a software publisher, accused the agency for (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, March 23, 2010, Gaz de Grenoble v. Aut. conc., Dec. No. 09-D-14 of 25 March 2009 concerning practices in the electricity supply sector Gaz de Grenoble had been sanctioned by the Competition Authority for having denigrated its competitor Poweo (Aut. conc., dec. no. 09-D-14 of (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, March 9, 2010, SNCMv. Council, Dec. No. 09-D-10 on practices in the maritime transport sector between Corsica and the mainland The Paris Court of Appeal was seised of an appeal by SNCM against the latest decision of the Competition Council by which it had penalised that (...)

Convening Decision No. 10-D-09 of 9 March 2010 on the requests for interim measures submitted by Itas Tim concerning practices implemented by TDF in the sector of digital terrestrial broadcasting services In its decision, the Competition Authority, in a complaint and request for interim (...)

CA Paris, ch. 5-7, 23 February 2010, Editions Jean-Paul Gisserot SA v. Council, Dec. No. 08-D-08 of 29 April 2008 on practices in the field of publishing and sale of tourism monographs Is this the end of the contentious saga for Éditions Gisserot? After many episodes before the administrative (...)

One of the first questions that naturally arises is that of the legal scope of these RAGs, as explained in paragraphs 12 and 13, both vis-à-vis the CCLA and vis-à-vis the companies that will invoke it. Can you say a word about that? What are, in a synthetic way before returning to certain (...)

Const. dec. no. 09-D-32 of October 26, 2009 on the practices implemented by the Photomaton company. It will be remembered that in its decision of July 3, 2008 (Cons. Conc., Dec. No. 08-D-32 of July 3, 2008, Photomaton, comm. A. Wachsmann, ConcurrencesNo. 4-2008, p. 90), the Competition Council (...)

European Parliament, Declaration on the need to investigate and remedy abuses of power by large supermarkets established in the European Union, P6_TA(2008)0054, OJEU No C. 184E of 6 August 2009, p. 23. During the month of August, a "Declaration of the European Parliament on the need to (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-D-28 of 31 July 2009 relating to practices of Janssen-Cilag France in the pharmaceutical sector The Commission’s sector inquiry, which is still very much in the public eye, ended with the publication of a report on 8 July (Final Report of the Commission available on its (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-D-29 of 31 July 2009 relating to a request for precautionary measures submitted by Euris Euris, a company specializing in customer relationship management (CRM) solutions for the pharmaceutical industry, had filed a complaint with the French Competition Authority against (...)

Council Regulation (EC) No 09-D-26 of 26 July 2009 on an application for interim measures submitted by DKT International in the sector of the take-back and recovery of household plastic packaging waste The sector of treatment, sorting and recycling of packaging waste has been particularly (...)

Cass. com, July 7, 2009, Vicat and Lafarge Ciments, No. 08-15.609 and 08-16.094, Corsican Cement aff. In 2007, the French Competition Council sanctioned Lafarge Ciments, Vicat and their distributors for partitioning the market for the supply of cement to Corsica to the detriment of Italian and (...)

T. confl, 4 May 2009, Prefect of Paris (Éditions Gisserot v. CMN), No. C3714. "Monument éditorial en péril" was the title of a daily newspaper (Le Monde, 6 May 2009) referring to the case between Éditions Gisserot and the Centre des monuments nationaux ("the CMN"), a public administrative (...)

Aut. conc. dec. no. 09-MC-01 of 8 April 2009 relating to the referral on the merits of the case and the request for provisional measures presented by the company Solaire Direct The activities of an incumbent operator once again contribute to making competition law topical. Indeed, new (...)

Cass. com, 17 March 2009, Minister of the Economy, No. 08-14.503, aff. "GlaxoSmithkline France". On March 14, 2007, the Competition Council had issued its first decision, which was particularly noteworthy, condemning a company for predatory pricing (cons. conc. déc. n° 07-D-09 of March 14, 2007 (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 09-D-10 of 27 February 2009 on practices implemented in the maritime transport sector between Corsica and the mainland In December 2006, the Competition Council, acting on a complaint from the Compagnie Méridionale de Navigation (’CMN’) and Corsica Ferries, considered that (...)

Cons. conc. dec. no. 09-D-04 of January 27, 2009 relating to complaints by the Messageries Lyonnaises de Presse company against practices implemented by the Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne group in the press distribution sector. It is not the least of the paradoxes of competition (...)

ECJ, 11 December 2008, Kanal 5 Ltd and TV 4 AB v Föreningen Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå (STIM) upa, Case C-52/07 The management of copyrights is decidedly of particular topicality in competition law. The European Commission recently prohibited territorial restrictions put in (...)

CA Paris, 1st ch. H, 5 November 2008, CIPHA and others.against Cons. conc., Dec. no. 07-D-28 of 13 September 2007 relating to practices implemented by the autonomous port of Le Havre, the Compagnie industrielle des pondéreux, the société havraise de gestion et de transport and the société Havre (...)

ECJ, 16 September 2008, Sot. Lélos kai Sia EE a.o. v. GlaxoSmithKline AEVE Farmakeftikon Proïonton, case C-468/06 to C-478/06 A solution reached by the Court of Justice which satisfies all parties involved deserves a detailed description. In the present case, wholesalers are confirmed in the (...)

Council Decision No. 08-D-16 of July 3, 2008 on a request for precautionary measures presented by the company Cybervitrine against practices implemented by the company Photomaton. New developments in the field of photography! The Cybervitrine company, active in the marketing of automatic (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 08-D-08 of 29 April 2008 on practices implemented in the sector of publishing and sale of tourism monographs Once again after the dispute between the monks of the Abbey of the Islands of Lérins and a carrier (Cons. conc., Dec. No. 05-D-60, 8 November 2005, relating to (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 07-MC-06 of December 11, 2007 relating to a request for precautionary measures presented by Arrow Génériques Issues related to pharmaceutical products continue to occupy the agenda of the Competition Council. Indeed, the Competition Council has truly pre-empted an area that (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 07-D-39 of 23 November 2007 relating to practices implemented in the passenger rail transport sector on the Paris-London route The Competition Council was again given the opportunity to refine its predatory pricing methodology. After the GlaxoSmithKline case (Cons. conc., (...)

Cons. conc. dec. n° 07-D-28 of September 13, 2007 relating to practices implemented by the Port Autonome du Havre, the Compagnie Industrielle des Poids du Havre, the Société Havraise de Gestion et de Transport and the company Havre Manutention. The Competition Council seized of anti-competitive (...)

Cons. conc. dec. no. 07-D-23 of 12 July 2007 relating to the referral to the SA Edition presse magazines 2000 relating to practices implemented by the company Nouvelles messageries de la presse parisienne NMPP In December 2000, EPM 2000, the publisher of the television magazine Télé Z, lodged a (...)

In a decision of 2 May 2007, the Competition Council ruled that there was no need to continue proceedings initiated by the Minister of the Economy against the company Transmontagne, which operates by delegation the public service of the ski lifts and the ski slopes of the resort of Pra-Loup. (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 07-MC-01 of 25 April 2007 relating to a request for provisional measures by the company KalibraXE The opening up of the electricity market to private individuals on 1 July 2007 is causing renewed tension within the Competition Council, which has been prompted by numerous (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 07-D-13 of 6 April 2007 on new requests for provisional measures in the maritime transport sector between Corsica and the mainland The question of maritime links between Corsica and the port of Marseille is making waves all the time! It will be remembered that, on 11 (...)

Cons. conc. dec. no. 07-D-09 of 14 March 2007 relating to practices implemented by the GlaxoSmithKline France laboratory Two decisions, one French, the other Community, relating to predatory pricing, differ significantly on the criteria applied to classify predation practices (see (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 06-MC-03 of 11 December 2006 on requests for provisional measures in the maritime transport sector between Corsica and the mainland Once again referred to in a maritime transport case (see in particular Cons. conc., dec. no. 04-D-79 of 23 December 2004 relating to (...)

Concordant Consensus, Dec. n° 06-D-23 of 21 July 2006 on the situation of competition in the map publishing and tourist information sectors (IGN) The leaders of the National Geographic Institute (NGI) certainly no longer need a map to find the Rue de l’Échelle. The Competition Council has once (...)

Council Decision No. 06-D-16 of 20 June 2006 on practices implemented by NMPPs on the market for the distribution of the press for sale by the number and related markets of activities The distribution of the press is once again in the headlines at the Competition Council. But in fact hot news, (...)

Concordant Consent, Dec. 06-D-11 of 16 May 2006 relating to a referral to Turbo Europe Council Decision No. 06-D-12 of 6 June 2006 on practices implemented in the distribution of chemical commodities sector. Conc. conc. dec. n° 06-D-17 of 22 June 2006 relating to practices in the ready-mixed (...)

Cons. conc. dec. no. 06-D-10 of 12 May 2006 relating to practices implemented by Bouygues Télécom against the wholesaler Stock-Com Stock-com, a wholesaler of mobile telephony equipment and services which achieves almost all its turnover from a single supplier, the operator Bouygues Télécom, is (...)

Cass. com, May 10, 2006, Association Tenor devenue ETNA France, n° 05-14.501 and 05-15.187 While telephone tariffs continue to make the headlines, the Tenor case (named after the complainant, now ETNA), which concerns the "margin squeeze" practices implemented by SFR and France Telecom on the (...)

CA Paris, 1st ch. H, May 9, 2006, NMPP and SAEM-TPagainst Cons. conc. dec. no. 06-MC-01 In a judgment dated May 9, 2006, the Court of Appeal confirmed the protective measures ordered by the French Competition Council against the two main French press messaging companies, NMPP and SAEM-TP (...)

CA Paris, 1st ch. H, 4 April 2006, Société des Établissements horticoles Georges Truffaut et a.v. Council, Dec. No. 05-D-32 of June 22, 2005, Royal Canin and its distribution network In a judgment of 4 April 2006, the Court of Appeal partially reversed the decision of the Competition Council in (...)

Former Commissioner Mario Monti announced at the Fordham Annual Conference on International Antitrust Law and Policy in October 2003 that the Commission would conduct a re-examination of the law and practice of Article 82. Since then a huge amount of intellectual energy has been spent - both (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 05-D-72 of 20 December 2005 on practices implemented by various laboratories in the sector of parallel exports of medicines Since the Court of Justice did not resolve this in the Syfait case, the Competition Council did! Restrictions on parallel trade in medicinal products (...)

Conc. conc. dec. no. 05-D-60 of November 8, 2005 concerning practices implemented by the Cistercian Congregation of the Immaculate Conception, the Planaria Society, the State and the Municipality of Cannes. Would the Council have liked to celebrate, in its own way, the hundredth anniversary of (...)

Cons. conc. dec. no. 05-D-46 of July 28, 2005 relating to practices implemented by Jaeger Lecoultre In order to promote their image of quality and luxury, several watchmaking groups decided in the 1990s to better control their after-sales service. Jaeger Lecoultre has reorganised itself in (...)

Cass. com, July 12, 2005, Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne, "Presse 2000", n° 04-12.388 Press distribution in France is once again at the centre of a dispute raising competition law issues. The Court of Cassation has censured a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal which had (...)

Conc. dec. no. 05-D-32 of 22 June 2005 relating to practices implemented by Royal Canin and its distribution network The present case raises interesting issues as to the role of distribution channels in the definition of the relevant market and as to the Competition Council’s room for manoeuvre (...)

Conc. conc. dec. n° 05-D-29 of 16 June 2005 relating to practices implemented by "Les Haras Nationaux" on the equine reproduction market. It will be remembered that FADETEQ, a professional association of some fifty private equine breeding centres, had referred to the Competition Council alleged (...)

EC Commission, Press release IP/05/737 of 15 June 2005, AstraZeneca, Case COMP/37.507 The European Commission’s decision in the AstraZeneca case is original to say the least; it is representative of the Commission’s determination to combat all types of abuse of a dominant position, even those (...)

CA Paris, 1st ch. H, 22 February 2005, Decaux against Dec. No. 04-D-32 Would the holders of a dominant position be bad losers? This seems to be illustrated by the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision of 22 February 2005, confirming the decision of the French Competition Council of 8 July 2004, (...)

EC Commission, Article 27§4 R. No. 1/2003 of 26 November 2004, Coca-Cola, Case COMP/39.116 Once again, the European Commission is called upon to rule on the commercial policy of The Coca-Cola Company (hereafter Coca-Cola or TCCC). In addition to the numerous acquisitions of the US group, which (...)

Council Decision No 04-D-13 of 8 April 2004 on practices implemented by the Société des Caves et des Producteurs réunis de Roquefort in the blue-veined cheese sector. Has the Competition Council taken a new direction in the agri-food sector? After strawberry producers (Cons. conc., Dec. No. (...)