The Regional Administrative Court of Lazio annuls a decision to fine a online ticket seller €10.8M for abuse of dominance on the grounds that mergers cannot be considered abusive, thus declaring Continental Can inapplicable following the passing of the EUMR (TicketOne)

On 24 March 2022, an Italian administrative court (“TAR Lazio” or “court”) annulled the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) decision imposing a fine of €10.8 million on several companies belonging to the music ticketing and marketing group CTS Eventim-TicketOne (“TicketOne”) for abuse of its dominant position on the Italian market for the sale of tickets for pop music concerts. Background As reported in VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2021, No. 1, TicketOne was held to have infringed Article 102 TFEU by implementing a complex and single strategy to exclude competitors by