The European Commission (“EC”) has long sought to eliminate so-called harmful tax competition, which it sees as undermining the integrity of the internal market, fair competition and the fiscal sustainability of the Member States. Although the EU Member States remain sovereign in this area, over (...)

On 9 April 2014, the European Commission adopted its new Energy and Environmental State Aid Guidelines (the “EEAG”) which will take effect from 1 July 2014 onwards, replacing the Environmental State aid Guidelines (“EAG”) from 2008, which did not cover State aid to the energy sector. The EEAG set (...)

The existence in several countries of “blocking statutes”, which prohibit the provision of economic information to foreign authorities or courts (or require prior authorization to be obtained before doing so), present a challenge to those managing international litigation and (...)

Summary On 11 June 2013, the European Commission (“Commission”) adopted a proposal for a directive on how citizens and companies can bring damages claims under EU antitrust rules. According to the Commission, the proposal serves to remove a number of practical difficulties which claimants face (...)

By its decision of 18 April 2007, the Commission imposed fines totalling approximately EUR 270 million on several Dutch brewers, including Heineken NV and its subsidiary Heineken Nederland BV, and Bavaria NV, for their participation in a cartel on the Dutch beer market between 27 February 1996 (...)

By its decision of 3 May 2006, the Commission imposed fines totalling over EUR 388 million on a number of companies for their participation in a cartel on the market for hydrogen peroxide and sodium perborate (bleaching agents) between 31 January 1994 and 31 December 2000. Among the companies (...)

By its decision of 11 March 2008, the Commission imposed fines totalling over EUR 32 million on ten companies for their participation in a cartel on the international removal services market in Belgium between October 1984 and September 2003. In particular, the Commission imposed fines of EUR (...)

This article is the winner of the business category, anticompetitive practices section of the 2012 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. In an Opinion delivered on 10 February 2011, Advocate General (‘AG’) Sharpston of the European Court of (...)

Today, the Office of Fair Trading ("OFT") launched a review of barriers to entry, expansion and exit in retail banking.[1] The review comes at a time of when the UK Government has significant stakes in a number of major retail banks, which it will wish to divest over time. The purpose of the (...)

I. BACKGROUND The European Commission published the 24th February 2009 a Communication containing its long-awaited Guidance Paper on exclusionary abuses under Article 82 C(Commission Communication – Guidance on the Commission’s Enforcement Priorities in Applying Article 82 EC Treaty to Abusive (...)

For the third time this year, and the second time this week, the European Court of First Instance ("CFI") has overturned a decision of the EC Commission to block a merger. Once again, the CFI criticized the Commission’s factual findings and its analysis. Within hours of the judgment, (...)