February 2000

Anticompetitive practices

 The French Competition Council rules that retaliations and boycott measures in order to maintain resale price constitutes an anticompetitive practice (Practices on fruits & vegetables sector)
Verisure Securitas Direct (Paris)
France 7 contributions 4922 visits
Description of the impugned case A French syndicate of producers imposed to distributors a resale price maintenance in order to stop importation of strawberries from Spain. The investigation showed clearly that syndicate threatened to apply retaliations and boycott measures. In consequence, (...)

The French Competition Authority fines a professional organization for organizing a boycott action against imports of Spanish strawberries (Coordination rurale du Lot-et-Garonne / French Federation of Fruit and vegetable Importers)
French Competition Authority (Paris)
France 592 contributions 219928 visits
Press release published on the official website of the French Competition Authority. Practices implemented in the sector for fruits and vegetables* In a decision dated 22nd February 2000, the Conseil de la concurrence ruled on a referral by the Fédération française des importateurs de fruits et (...)

The Hungarian Competition Authority condemns RPM for lock distribution (Euro-Elzett)
Oppenheim (Budapest)
Hongrie 37 contributions 98162 visites
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Oppenheim (Budapest)
Hongrie 35 contributions 73589 visites
Description of the impugned case Certain agreements by Euro-Elzett (a producer and distributor of locks) with its distributors contained clauses, which prohibited the distributors from applying resale prices at or lower the procurement price of the locks. Euro-Elzett also sent circulars to its (...)

Unilateral Practices

 The French Competition Authority accepts a request for interim measures on the ADSL market (9 Telecom)
French Competition Authority (Paris)
France 592 contributions 219928 visits
Request for interim measures filed by the company 9 Telecom, concerning access for telecommunications operators to the market for high-speed Internet access services using ADSL technology* In a decision dated 18th February 2000, the Conseil de la concurrence ruled on the request for interim (...)

Mergers

 The Hungarian Competition Office clears a merger in the mobile and wired telecommunications sector, subject to non-discrimination and separation of accounts remedies (Deutsche Telekom)
Clifford Chance
3 contributions 7481 visits
The operation The HCO authorized the acquisition of control of Telekom over the MediaOne owing 49-49 per cent of the shares in Westel 450 and Westel 900 mobile service operators. Telekom owns MATÁV possessing the remaining 51-51 per cent of shares of Westel 450 and Westel 900. The market(s) (...)

The EU Commission approves, subject to remedies, a merger between two leading French oil companies (TotalFina / Elf Aquitaine)
French Competition Authority (Paris)
Belgium 7 contributions 18903 visits
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DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 4 contributions 5691 visits
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DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 2 contributions 872 visits
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"The case TotalFina / Elf Aquitaine: preserving a contestable and competitive market in an industry that is of a particularly sensitive nature to the consumer"* On 24 August 1999 the Commission was notified of the proposed acquisition by TotalFina of Elf Aquitaine. These two companies are the (...)

The French Minister of Economics cleared a merger in the cash transit services sector subject to remedies, including divestiture and capital restructuring (UBS Capital/Serse)
French Competition Authority (Paris)
France 78 contributions 273477 visits
The operation The French Minister of Economy cleared a concentration by which the group UBS Capital acquires sole control of Serse. The market(s) The market involved is the cash in transit services. Remedy 1: Divesture Post merger, the new entity will hold a dominant position in 13 local (...)

State Aid

 The French Tribunal in charge of social security cases applies to the EU Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling on whether a tax exemption can be considered not State aid but a mere compensation of public service costs (Ferring)
CRDEI - Centre de Recherche et de Documentation Européennes et Internationales (Bordeaux)
France 5 contributions 20676 visits
The important case law of the ECJ often finds its origin in a preliminary question raised by national judges of first instance (e. g. ECJ, April 30th, 1986, Asjes a. o., Joined Cases 209/84 209/84, 210/84, 211/84, 212/84, 213/84 and 213/84, [1986] ECR 1425, “Nouvelles Frontières”, preliminary (...)

Regulatory

 The OECD holds a roundtable on promoting competition in the natural gas industry
OECD - Competition Division (Paris)
France 290 contributions 751476 visits
Executive summary, by the Secretariat In the light of the written submissions, the background note and the oral discussion, the following points emerge: (1) Demand for natural gas stems primarily from its use as a source of energy, particularly in the provision of heating and in the (...)

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