February 2005

The case had been brought before the Competition Council by an armourer, following the termination by BWF of its commercial relationship with the manufacturer, which leads the French firearms’ market along with Beretta-Benelli France. The Council considered that BWF had established an (...)

Browning Winchester France (”BW”), a manufacturer of guns and ammunitions, had set up a distribution network in France by entering into “pilot resellers’ agreements” with several gunsmiths. Pursuant to these agreements signed between 1997 and 2001, the gunsmiths undertook to order minimum (...)

Factual background The OFT concluded that various roofing contractors, including Apex, had infringed the Chapter I prohibition under the Competition Act 1998 by colluding in relation to the making of tender bids for flat roofing contracts in the West Midlands. Apex was found to have (...)

In November 2004, Harbor Point - the sole owner of the ‘Harry Potter’ publishing rights for Poland - and several wholesale books distributors agreed in a meeting on certain sales conditions. An agreement was later signed between the parties whereby they decided to sell ‘Harry Potter’ books for (...)

Dentsply International, Inc. In Violation Of Section 2 For Monopoly Maintenance Through Use Of Exclusivity Clauses* In a reversal of the dismissal of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DOJ) complaint, alleging violations of Section 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 3 of the (...)

The Italian competition authority (“Authority”) recently issued an interim decision against Merck & Co Inc (“Merck”) obliging it to license the manufacture of antibiotic Imipenem Cilastatina, the active ingredient in the manufacture of Carbapenemens. This decision is very interesting (...)

TELE2 Italia (hereinafter, “TELE2”) lodged a complaint before the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (“AGCM”) on 16 April 2004. A similar complaint was lodged some months later by ReteItaly, Trans World Communication Italia (“TWC”) and Startel. TELE2 has as its core activities (...)

"The Maxmobil Judgment: the Court of Justice clarifies the role of complainants in Article 86 procedures"* On 22 February 2005 the Court of Justice rendered a judgment in case C-141/02 P, Commission against T-Mobile Austria GmbH. The Court sets aside the judgment of the Court of First (...)

The operation On 12 October 2004 Rethmann AG & Co. KG (“Rethmann”) notified the Bundeskartellamt of its proposed acquisition, via its subsidiary Remondis Unternehmesbeteiligungs GmbH, of all the shares of RWE Umwelt AG (“RWE Umwelt”). Rethmann is the controlling company of the Remondis (...)

On 15 February 2005, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) dismissed the European Commission’s appeal in the Tetra Laval/Sidel merger case. The ECJ’s judgment establishes two significant principles that apply beyond the facts of this particular case: • The judgment confirms that the Court of (...)

"Conglomerate and vertical mergers in the light of the Tetra Judgement"* Speech given at the International Forum on EC Competition Law organised by the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, Brussels 08/04/2005. The author would like to thank Michael König and Guillaume Loriot for their valuable (...)

European Court Raises Bar On The European Commission’s Use Of Novel Theories In Merger Cases* On February 15, 2005, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rejected an appeal by the European Commission against the judgment of the Court of First Instance (“CFI”), annulling the Commission’s (...)

Factual Background The Danish Competition Authority (DCA) received a complaint from an actor on the market of vaccinations according to which the State-owned Serum Institute ("SSI") had subsidized a competing company, Udlandsvaccinationen I/S. The subsidies allegedly consisted in (1) SSI (...)

Factual Background The Transport business’ Education Council (Transporterhvervets Uddannelsesråd, "TUR") is a sector-specific education committee that according to Danish law on work related training is committed to assessing the needs of relevant training courses, including the preparation (...)

The National High Court refused a claim for financial liability brought by Fred Olsen, S.A. against the State for the unlawful aid granted to Trasmediterránea in the operation of the Los Cristianos-San Sebastián de la Gomera and Santa Cruz de Tenerife-Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Line. This (...)

Factual Background: On 24 January 2005, the Research Promotion Foundation notified to the Commissioner for State aid Control a draft scheme, entitled “scheme for the provision of access to research infrastructures abroad”. The scheme is based on the acknowledgment of the essential need that (...)

Article L. 420-6, paragraph 1, of the Commercial Code creates the infraction applicable to natural persons having taken part in an anticompetitive practice. This article states: “If any natural person fraudulently takes a personal and decisive part in the conception, organisation or (...)

I. Facts of the case Renault Germany AG as the sole national sales company for Renault brand in Germany sells its motor vehicles through a selective distribution system in which authorized "A-dealers" enter into a dealership agreement with Renault Germany. On a second distribution level (...)

Background Until June 2001, the defendant was an authorized Renault dealer in Germany, belonging to the so-called A-category of dealers. In 1996, the defendant entered into a so-called Service Agreement with the claimant on the supply of new Renault vehicles and original spare parts. The (...)

In this case the Maltese Commission had to decide whether the fact that the Electronics Communications Authority of Malta had a regulatory jurisdiction in relation to various telecommunications services in Malta prevented the Office of Fair Competition from investigating a complaint by (...)

Press Release published on the official website of the French Competition Authority. In an opinion issued to the ART, the Conseil de la concurrence draws the Authority’s attention to the development of Voice over Broadband (VoB)offers and the potential distortion of competition caused by (...)

"Professional services: scope for more reform"* 1. Introduction and background The Commission’s work in the professional services sector continues with the publication of its first follow-up report to the 2004 Report ‘Competition in Professional Services’. The 2004 Report set out the (...)

Over the last 25 years the rail sector in virtually all OECD countries has undergone significant reform. These reforms were usually driven by inefficiency and poor performance within the rail sector and long-term loss of market share to other transport modes. The appropriate role for (...)