Ingrid Vandenborre

1. Summary The European Union and the United Kingdom have each proposed modifications of their antitrust rules on distribution. The proposals diverge significantly on common distribution practices, creating legal challenges for distribution agreements caught by both sets of rules. Dual (...)

The European Commission (EC) has proposed legislation to curb M&A, public procurement and market conduct by foreign-subsidized companies that may distort the European Union’s internal market. New requirements include: Mandatory notification of acquisitions where the target’s EU turnover (...)

The new Article 22 EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) Guidance released by the European Commission (EC) enables the EC to review any acquisition, even those that do not qualify for notification under national (or EU) merger control rules. Summary The new guidance indicates that the EC will actively (...)

Takeaways More than 50 countries now have the discretion to conduct competition reviews of mergers below mandatory notification thresholds, and the European Commission, EU member states, the U.K. and others are using this authority more frequently. As a consequence, companies whose merger might (...)

The U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has released new merger assessment guidelines that confirm the U.K. regulator’s intensified approach to merger control. The guidelines largely codify the CMA’s recent output, which includes record-high numbers of prohibitions and deal (...)

Commissioned by the U.K. government to review its antitrust regime, Conservative Member of Parliament John Penrose’s “Power to the People” report proposes streamlined, modest changes rather than wholesale reform to the current regime. The report’s recommendations are outlined below: Merger reviews (...)

The European Union (EU)-U.K. Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) governing post-Brexit trade relations between the U.K. and the EU includes provisions regulating EU/U.K. antitrust enforcement and cooperation effective January 1, 2021: Anticompetitive practices and mergers. The TCA provides (...)

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has advised the U.K. government to create additional competition rules for large tech firms and platforms: Large tech firms considered to have “strategic market status” (SMS) should be subject to an enforceable code of conduct to prevent (...)

Following its review of a series of global deals in the digital markets space, the U.K.’s Competition & Markets Authority (the CMA) has launched a consultation on revised merger assessment guidelines (the draft guidelines) codifying its evolving practice in the digital sector and addressing (...)

Sustainability issues are increasingly high on the list of competition policy priorities both at the European Union and member state levels. The European Commission (EC) and national competition authorities are actively rethinking how competition policy can better support the transition to (...)

The European Commission (EC) has proposed far-reaching new powers to investigate and sanction foreign subsidies that have allegedly distortive effects on the European Union’s (EU) internal market. The proposals include: (i) mandatory notification of acquisitions, including potentially minority (...)

The European Commission’s (EC) June 2020 white paper proposing wide-ranging controls over foreign-subsidized companies’ access to Europe’s internal market has received fresh impetus. In a report issued earlier this month, the European Union’s (EU) audit body faulted the EC for a hitherto (...)

As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly around the world, and countries take unprecedented measures to contain the spread of the disease, businesses are increasingly struggling with the economic impact of this crisis. While airlines, tour operators and event businesses have been among the (...)

The UK Court of Appeal Overturns the CAT & Imposes Agency Discretion on Excessive Price Benchmark* On March 10, 2020, the England and Wales Court of Appeal (CoA) handed down a significant ruling that reintroduces agency discretion in the methodology used to establish the unfairness of (...)

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published “Guidance on the Functions of the CMA Under the Withdrawal Agreement” (Guidance), which sets out the regulator’s approach to merger and competition cases during the Brexit transition period that will run until at least through December (...)

A recent decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), Tobii AB (publ) v. Competition and Markets Authority, confirms a deferential standard for the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in its merger prohibitions. The CMA is widely regarded as a thought leader among merger control (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. A recent Court of Appeal decision has reignited the prospects of a £14 billion class action against Mastercard. In a much-anticipated ruling, the court has granted (...)

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued its first antitrust decision since obtaining competition law powers four years ago. The decision is a controversial one. It sets the FCA up as a strict enforcer on the type of information that competing investors can share when making (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2020 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. On 26 July 2018, US company Qualcomm Inc announced the abandonment of its proposed acquisition, through its subsidiary Qualcomm River Holding BV (Qualcomm), of (...)

On November 23, 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) dealt a blow to the European Commission’s (Commission) power to close antitrust investigations with commitment decisions, with its ruling in Case C-547/16 Gasorba et al. v. Repsol. The Court of Justice ruled that (...)

On 26 October 2017, the European Commission (the Commission) opened an in-depth investigation into UK statutory rules that exempt certain financing income earned by foreign subsidiaries of UK corporate taxpayers from UK tax. The Commission’s investigation will focus on whether the UK Controlled (...)

On September 6, 2017 ,the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) quashed the 2014 judgment of the General Court (GC) that upheld a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel Corporation Inc. (Intel) for abusing a dominant market position by implementing loyalty rebates based on (...)

On 10 May 2017, two years after launching its e-commerce sector inquiry on 6 May 2015, the European Commission published its final report (Final Report) on the inquiry. The inquiry was opened in the framework of the Commission’s broader Digital Single Market strategy, which was aimed at (...)

The German Federal Cartel Office (the FCO) has announced that it has initiated proceedings against Facebook for the company’s alleged abuse of its dominant position in a market for social networks. The FCO appears to be taking the position that, as a firm with a possibly dominant position, (...)

On October 6, 2015, the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) issued an important judgment clarifying the application of Article 102 to retroactive loyalty rebates (Post Danmark AS, Case C 23/14). The case, which had been referred to the ECJ by the Danish Commercial Court, concerned rebates for (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. China’s Anti-Monopoly Law requires businesses to notify transactions to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) for merger control review, so long as the parties meet (...)

Since the last special edition of e-Competitions on restrictions of parallel trade, there have been a number of national competition authority cases in the good old familiar sectors – for example the automotive or fast moving consumer goods sectors. Where the foreword to the last special edition remarked that national authorities seemed at times to be taking a permissive approach to limitations to parallel trade by the standards of the European Commission, enforcement in recent years has shown a more stringent approach towards restrictions on parallel imports. However, issues surrounding restrictions of parallel trade have recently risen to the forefront of the EU Commission’s agenda tackling the challenges posed by the increasing importance of digital commerce. And it would seem only appropriate to say a few words on those in what has been one of the first digital EU competition law magazines…

On May 6, 2015, the European Commission (Commission) launched an antitrust sector inquiry into the e-commerce sector. This sector inquiry is part of the Commission’s broader Digital Single Market Strategy, which aims inter alia to improve access for consumers and businesses to online goods and (...)

Introduction A review of the Article 102 TFEU decisions at the member state level in the last years shows that the challenges of applying competition law rules in the digital economy or in relation to patent rights have not been reserved exclusively for the EU Commission. The EU Commission has (...)

The Electronic Intellectual Property Center of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released a draft “Template for Intellectual Property Policies in Industry Standardization Organizations” (the Draft Template), seeking public comments by January 30. The Draft Template (...)

The Dutch competition authority (the Authority for Consumers and Markets, or ACM) has issued two decisions imposing fines on private equity firms for the participation of their portfolio company in the so-called flour cartel. The ACM’s decisions apply EU competition law in imposing parental (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2014 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. On July 9, 2014, the European Commission published its proposal (White Paper) outlining the approach it intends to adopt with respect to the application of the EU (...)

In a long-awaited judgment issued on June 12, 2014, the General Court upheld in its entirety the European Commission’s May 13, 2009, decision imposing a fine of €1.06 billion ($1.5 billion) on Intel for abusing a dominant position in the market for x86 CPUs. In particular, the court upheld the (...)

In a judgment that may expand civil damage liability for cartel participants significantly (Case C-557/12, Kone AG and Others, judgment of June 5, 2014), the European Court of Justice (the ECJ) has ruled that a cartel’s members are liable for “umbrella damages,” which are caused by price increases (...)

EU Institutions Reach Compromise on EU Directive on Private Damage Actions* On March 18, 2014, representatives of the European Commission (the Commission), the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union reached a compromise in relation to key provisions of the proposed EU (...)

On June 20, 2013, the European Commission (Commission) launched a public consultation on a number of significant proposed changes to the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR). The proposed amendments relate to (i) the possible review of non-controlling minority shareholdings under the EUMR; (ii) the EU (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2013 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. 1. Introduction Regulation 1/2003 obliges member states to apply Articles 101 and 102 to commercial practices which have an effect on interstate trade in order (...)

This article has been nominated for the 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. Competition authorities around the globe are taking an increasingly active part in the pursuit of civil claims for damages for antitrust infringements. The (...)

On December 14, 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) published a package of measures containing revised rules and guidelines for the assessment of cooperation agreements between competitors (horizontal cooperation agreements). In particular, these measures provide new and more (...)

On September 9, 2010, the General Court of the EU (the Court) issued its judgment in Tomra vs. Commission (Case T-155/06), dismissing an appeal brought by Tomra against a European Commission decision imposing a €24 million fine for abuse of its dominant position in Germany, Austria, Sweden, the (...)

On June 9, 2010, the EU’s General Court (Court) issued its judgment on an appeal by Editions Odile Jacob (EOJ) against a decision by the European Commission (the Commission) refusing to disclose certain documents relating to the Commission’s review under the EC Merger Regulation of the (...)

On April 20, 2010, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted its new, long-awaited Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (the VBER) and accompanying guidelines applicable to distribution agreements in the EU. The VBER, which will enter into force on June 1, 2010, replaces Regulation (...)