Christian Ritz

This article has been nominated for the 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Digital ubiquity, and the resulting rules, do not only concern tech giants. To the contrary, digital regulation is relevant for companies in all market sectors (...)

I. Introduction On 12 June 2018, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) passed its long-awaited landmark decision in KZR 56/16 (Grauzementkartell II). The BGH held that Sec. 33 (5) of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC) (today Sec. 33h (6) ARC), which (...)

I. Introduction On 6 December 2017, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) handed down its long-awaited judgment on the permissibility of restrictions by suppliers of luxury goods to sell their products via third-party online platforms under Article 101 (1) TFEU. The question has been subject to (...)

I. Introduction On 6 October, the German Federal Cartel Office (’FCO’) launched its new series of papers on ’Competition and Consumer Protection in the Digital Economy’. The first paper deals with ’Big Data and Competition’. The same day, a ’real-life example’ of competition enforcement in Big Data (...)

1. Introduction The question of whether cartel damages claims can be tried in arbitration under so-called ’standard’ arbitration agreements – meaning not explicitly referencing tortious or even specifically antitrust damages claims – has recently been the subject of much debate. Regarding (...)

On 9 June 2017, the 9th amendment of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (ARC) entered into effect introducing important amendments for companies to German competition law. The reform deals with two main issues: the implementation of the European Cartel Damages Actions Directive (...)

Germany suggests ramping up regulation of digital platforms by establishing Digital Agency with robust antitrust mandate* Will Germany establish a “Digital Agency” to monitor compliance with competition law rules in digital markets? Will a German “Digital Antitrust Enforcer” become a role model (...)

On 18 March 2016, the Regional Court of Berlin (RC Berlin) in Romano Pisciotti v. Federal Republic of Germany referred four questions to the European Court of Justice to seek guidance on whether Mr Pisciotti could argue that he had suffered discrimination and claim compensation from the German (...)

I. The Facts The parties argue in a civil law proceeding whether a manufacturer could make the supply of goods to an authorised distributor in a selective distribution system subject to a contractual obligation not to resell goods via online sales platforms such as Amazon and advertise them via (...)

I. The Facts The judgment by the Higher Regional Court Düsseldorf (HRC Düsseldorf) put an end to 10 years of on-going legal dispute that started after the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) disclosed various regional quota cartels, operating for a number of years until 2002, in the German cement (...)

I. The Facts In 2012 and 2013 the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed heavy fines on numerous companies and individuals for participating in a cartel in the rail industry. Among the companies fined were subsidiaries of the large German steel-producing group, ThyssenKrupp, which had to (...)

I. The Facts In 2009 Ms. Claudia Pechstein, a successful German speed skater, was banned by the International Skating Union (ISU) from all skating competitions for two years. Ms. Pechstein had tested positive in a doping control that was held during the ISU skating world cup in Norway. The (...)

I. The Facts In 2009, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed fines on several companies in the mortar sector (FCO, 24 March 2009, B 1-40/06-U 21). The companies were accused of having participated in anti-competitive agreements on set-up fees for dry mortar silos. Among the companies (...)

I. The Facts The claimant seeks reimbursement from the two defendants for a fine imposed by the European Commission on all three companies for allegedly infringing European competition law rules. In 2009, the European Commission fined several suppliers of calcium carbide and magnesium (...)

I. The Facts Following the European Commission’s decision to impose fines against a group of lift and escalator manufacturers for violating EU antitrust rules in February 2007 (COMP/38.823), several building contractors initiated civil damages claims before the Regional Court of Berlin at the (...)

I. The Facts Scandlines Deutschland GmbH (Scandlines) is the owner of the Puttgarden/Fehmarn ferry port in Germany and the sole provider of ferry services between Puttgarden and Rødby/Lolland in Denmark. Two Norwegian shipping companies sought access to the ferry port in Puttgarden in order to (...)

I. The Facts In two proceedings in 2009 and 2010 the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) imposed total fines of about € 53,1 million (€ 39,69 million in 2009, and € 13,36 million in 2010) on several undertakings and individuals operating in the dry mortar sector. The judgement at hand concerns the (...)