May 1997

General antitrust

 The EU Court of Justice states that the derogations from Regulation 1184/2006 need to be strictly construed and the Commission must give adequate reasons in the event that it allows such a derogation (Florimex)
European Court of Justice (Luxembourg)
Luxembourg 331 contributions 110123 visits
Joined Cases T-70/92 and T-71/92 Florimex BV and Vereniging van Groothandelaren in Bloemkwekerijprodukten v Commission of the European Communities* 1. It is the responsibility of the party alleging that an action is out of time, havingregard to the time-limits laid down in the last (...)

Unilateral Practices

 The Czech Constitutional Court declares that in the period preceding the accession of the Czech Republic to the EU, the rights guaranteed by the Constitution were not infringed by the Czech competition authorities basing their interpretation of Czech competition law on the corresponding EC rules (Skoda Auto)
Wolf Theiss (Prague)
Czech Republic 33 contributions 109941 visits
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Czech Ministry of Justice (Prague)
Czech Republic 30 contributions 80904 visits
The decision of the Ministry for Competition (the predecessor of the Czech NCA) in the Škoda Auto case, confirmed on constitutional complaint by the Constitutional Court in its judgement rendered on 29 May 1997, is one of the oldest and at the same time most controversial cases of application (...)

The EU Commission fines the sole processor of sugar in Ireland for abuse of its dominant position on the Irish sugar market (Irish Sugar)
European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 1362 contributions 2930228 visits
Commission fines IRISH SUGAR for abuse of its dominant position on the Irish sugar market* In a decision which finds that the company has infringed and abused its dominant position (Article 86 of the EC Treaty), the Commission has imposed a fine of 8.8 million ECU on Irish Sugar plc, a (...)

Mergers

 The EU Commission approves, subject to remedies, a merger between the UK and US telecommunications companies (British Telecom / MCI)
European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 9 contributions 2812 visits
"Merger : Summary of the most important recent developments"* The second decision under Article 8(2) of the Regulation was taken on 14th May, four months after the launch of a “2nd phase” in depth investigation. The Commission’s initial inquiry gave rise to serious concerns with respect to (...)

The EU Commission initiates a detailed investigation into the creation of a joint venture between US leading soft drinks company and Danish brewing company (Coca-Cola / Carlsberg)
European Commission - DG COMP (Brussels)
Belgium 9 contributions 2812 visits
"Merger : Summary of the most important recent developments"* On 2nd May, the Commission decided to initiate a detailed investigation into the creation of a joint venture and the transfer of assets between The Coca-Cola Company and Carlsberg. In the first stage, the operation only affects (...)

State Aid

 The EU Court of Justice rejects an appeal by a multinational conglomerate which sought to annul a Commission decision seeking the recovery of €6.36M in State aid on the grounds that the aid was ’operating’ aid, as opposed to ’investment’ aid, which is generally prohibited under EU law (Siemens)
Ashurst (London)
United Kingdom 2 contributions 80 visits
On May 15th 1997, the CJEU dismissed an appeal by Siemens SA (Belgian branch of Siemens) to overturn the Court of First Instance’s judgement (hereinafter ‘the contested judgment’) and to annul a decision by the European Commission (‘the contested decision’). The contested decision concerned € (...)

The EU Court of Justice admits the suspension of a new aid measure, awaiting the effective recovery of formerly granted incompatible aid to the same beneficiary (Textilwerke Deggendorf)
KU Leuven
Belgium 3 contributions 171 visits
On 15 May 1997, the European Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) ruled in an appeal, lodged against a General Court judgment of 13 September 1995 (T-244/93). The action was brought by Textilwerke Deggendorf GMBH (‘TWD’), beneficiary of two separate State aid measures, granted by the German Authorities. (...)