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Foreign direct investment screening in Europe: A comparative perspective on differences and commonalities within EuropeYour search returned 146 results Review Legal Practice
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The authors provide a comparative perspective on foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening in Europe in light of the EU’s new regulation, Regulation (EU) 2019/452. They explain the key drivers behind FDI screening and offer an analysis of what it implies at a European level. The article further (...)
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Insights on connected mobility in the automotive sectorVehicle data for commercial use is currently a subject of heated discussion at both the EU and national level. The questions around obtaining and pricing access to such data has led government authorities to consider the introduction of regulating measures. However, the analysis suggests that (...) -
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The failing firm defence in the age of COVID-19As COVID-19 continues to cause economic upheaval, undermine established business models, and jeopardise the long-term viability of important sectors of the economy, an increasing number of transactions may involve firms in severe financial difficulty. This may in turn increase the number of (...) -
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Surveying the surveys – The drive for implementation of the ICN’s recommended practices for merger notification and review proceduresOne of the first and most enduring work products of the ICN is the Merger Working Group’s Recommended Practices for Merger Notification and Review Procedures. Since their initial release in the early 2000s, the Recommended Practices have undergone a number of changes and a number of surveys have (...) -
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Failing firm defence – a tool in crisis?The failing firm defence, although a well-established principle of EU and numerous national merger control rules worldwide, is only very rarely successful because of the strict interpretation and high evidentiary burden imposed by competition authorities. The current Covid-19 crisis has plunged (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (Dec. 2019 – May 2020)The period reviewed in this chronicle confirms three key trends, already highlighted in our previous chronicles. Firstly, private enforcement litigation is diversifying. Secondly, private enforcement claims are more and more internationalizing in the course of claims raising questions of (...) -
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The assessment by the French administrative judge of the harm resulting from anticompetitive practicesThe French road signs cartel case has resulted in significant volume of litigation before French administrative courts, which led to the award of very high damages (in view of the size of the markets concerned and of the amount of the fines imposed by the French Competition Authority). Based on (...) -
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Analysis of intra- and inter-brand competition in mergers within distribution networks: Review of the French Competition Authority’s decision-making practice in the retail sectorDuring the assessment of an acquisition by the head of the network of one of its members in the spring of 2018, in the food retail sector, the Autorité de la concurrence specified the manner in which it conducts the competitive analysis of this type of merger. Thus, even in the absence of a (...) -
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Common ownership under the EUMR – Sailing a bit too close to the windThe European Commission (“Commission”) concluded in Dow/DuPont (2017) and Bayer/Monsanto (2018) that common ownership must be taken as an element of context in the appreciation of any significant impediment of effective competition under the EU Merger Regulation. It is submitted in this article, (...) -
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Antitrust: How to navigate a perilous but underappreciated compliance risk areaThe Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that it will consider the effectiveness of a company’s corporate antitrust compliance program in criminal charging decisions and penalty recommendations and that it will enter into Deferred Prosecution Agreements in (...) -
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Limitation periods in competition law damages actions in the EU: Are further clarification and harmonisation needed?This article discusses the limitation periods within which victims of a competition law infringement can bring an action for damages in the European Union. Firstly, it addresses the evolution of the European rules in this regard since 2005. Secondly, it provides an overview of the limitation (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (June 2019 – Nov. 2019)This new period is less rich in “big” decisions than the previous one, which had no less than three judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union, but it is marked by several atypical decisions that may announce a diversification of litigation. Recurring questions also continue to (...) -
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The limits of commitments in antitrust cases: The risk of an immediate upside being offset by long-term adverse consequencesThe commitment procedure can be very attractive for companies suspected of having infringed competition law, which conveniently avoid an in-depth investigation and a potential fine. From the competition authorities’ perspective, it also constitutes an effective procedural tool to swiftly remedy (...) -
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Antitrust risk in financial services: Lessons from recent regulatory developments in the EU, UK and beyondAntitrust authorities in the EU, UK and elsewhere have recently overseen a flurry of activity in the financial services sector. This is no coincidence: bolstered by reforms implemented following the Global Financial Crisis of the late 2000s, and seemingly spurred on by the wider emergence of (...) -
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Admissibility of appeals lodged by competitors after the Montessori judgment – La possibilité d’une îleAny person who wishes to challenge a Commission decision authorising the granting of aid to a competitor must be directly and individually concerned by such aid, in accordance with Article 263(4) TFEU. According to the case law, this is particularly the case if the market position of this (...) -
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The DOJ’s guidance on evaluation of corporate compliance programsOn April 30, 2019, the US Department of Justice released a new guidance on the evaluation of corporate compliance programs. The guidance is centered around three key questions: (1) Is the Compliance Program well designed?; (2) Is the Compliance Program effectively implemented?; and (3) Does the (...) -
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Local anticompetitive practices: Operation and review of the transaction-injunction mechanismThis article focuses on settlement and/or injunction proceedings implemented by the Minister for Economic Affairs since 2009 for anticompetitive practices with a local dimension. It also provides a comprehensive review of the decisions taken over the past ten years and analyses the use of this (...) -
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Agripole/Cofigeo merger – what if we discussed the substance?The analysis of the acquisition of Agripole by Cofigeo, subsequent to an in-depth examination, enabled the French competition authority (FCA) to detail its methodology on issues frequently arising in mergers involving consumer goods manufacturers. The FCA focused on the structuring role of (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (Sept. 2018 - June 2019)This period is full of judgments from the Court of Justice of the European Union, which reveals, in hollow, some shortcomings of the 2014/104/EU Directive. In addition, the usual issues are front and centre: extinguishing prescription, problems related to the specialisation of internal (...) -
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Reforming merger control notification thresholdsIn the world, competition authorities are currently adapting to the specifies and issues of the digital economy by reforming their competition laws. The reform of the merger control is a first step in order to avoid to concentrate this economy already dominated by just a few firms. This paper (...) -
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Common ownership: A practitioner’s viewCommon ownership has become a hot topic in antitrust. Until recently, though, it remained largely a theoretical debate. The merger control decisions issued by the European Commission in Dow/DuPont and Bayer/Monsanto, however, have suddenly made it a real concern for companies – even though the (...) -
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Disrupting the traditional value chain: How online platforms challenge competition rules on vertical restraints and RPMAccording to a recent Eurobarometer survey, almost half of SMEs in the EU use online marketplaces to sell their products or services. At the same time, many merchants report to have experienced resale price restrictions when selling online. Since online RPM is a widespread concern in online (...) -
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Liability for outsourced algorithmic collusion: A practical approximationPricing algorithms have been one of the hottest topics in the European competition law community in recent years. While the discussion is mostly focusing on long term scenarios, this article aims to meet a more modest, yet in our view highly practically relevant, objective: The assessment of (...) -
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Price control in distribution contracts: Control of price evolution or price level?In a highly anticipated QPC decision, the Conseil constitutionnel considers that the construction by the Court de Cassation in its decision Le Galec of article L. 442-6, I, 2 ° C. com. does not disregard the principle of legality of offenses and penalties, nor freedom of enterprise and freedom (...) -
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Antitrust dawn raids: France vs. United KingdomThis article provides a comparison between the French and English systems for competition law dawn raids. We set out the practical differences concerning the authorization regimes, the investigation and the applicable appeals procedures. 1. Given the invasive nature and often extensive (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (March 2018 – July 2018)The commented decisions indicate the recurrent nature of procedural questions, especially those pertinent to national and international competence. Other decisions confirm the ever-growing litigation about compensation applying to the administrative court as well as the importance of the harm (...) -
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The contestation of the orders to pay issued for the recovery of illegal State aids declared incompatible by the CommissionThe orders to pay adopted by the French administration, as the most common way of recovery of illegal State aids declared incompatible by the Commission, can be reviewed by French administrative courts, as illustrated by the growing number of such actions. However, actions lodged against these (...) -
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The availability of injunctive relief under EU and US law for FRAND-encumbered patentsAlthough seeking an injunction might be a legitimate tool, threatening a willing licensee with an injunction to extract excessive royalties can be abusive under competition law. In these cases, patentees abuse their market power by using injunctive remedies to avoid their FRAND commitment. Even (...) -
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Interim measures in France: A really enviable model?The Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, considers tougher enforcement with respect to interim measures and eyes the French regime with interest. It is now established that the French Competition Authority enjoys wide powers to adopt decisions ordering interim measures. This study (...) -
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Blockchain: Mind the gap! Lessons learnt from the net neutrality debate and competition law related aspectsBlockchain is one of the breakthrough technologies of our times and has already started to penetrate into various industries across the globe. Given the growing recent interest in big data, algorithms as well as net neutrality, it is conceivable that blockchain technology might attract (...) -
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Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (January – June 2018)This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DGCOMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past six months are covered. At the EU level, the Alcogroup judgment of the (...) -
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Practice of inclusion of reduction due to grade II leniency in the transaction rangeWhat we call ’inclusive settlement’ covers the settlement which includes the reduction of leniency in the fork of fines of the settlement. This practice, applied by the investigation services, forces companies to compromise on ’clemency’, whereas they should retain any possibility of appeal against (...) -
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Article 13 of Regulation 1/2003 animatedArticle 13 of Regulation 1/2003 entitles a national competition authority or the Commission to suspend proceedings or reject a complaint on the grounds that the same agreement, decision of an association or practice brought to its attention, is being dealt, or has already been dealt with, by (...) -
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Private enforcement of antitrust law in France (Sep. 2017 – Feb. 2018)The decisions commented in this article confirm the main features of the private enforcement of antitrust law in France. It is still a varied litigation between businesses. In follow-on litigations, claimants experience some recurring problems regarding prescription and passing on defence. In (...) -
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Compensation for damages caused by abuse of a dominant positionFrench courts have handed out judgments in 31 damages claims based on abuses of a dominant position. These cases differ from cartel damages claims in many respects. In particular, damages are more numerous, more diverse, and more difficult to quantify sometimes. In order to assess such damages, (...) -
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Inability to pay the fines imposed by the European Commission in cartel proceedings: How to navigate the maze?When a firm that took part in a cartel faces the risk that the Commission imposes a fine that is disproportionate as compared to its ability to pay and that could lead it to exit from the market, it may explore various procedural options to request that its economic and financial situation be (...) -
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Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (June - December 2017)This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DG COMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past six months are covered. At the EU level, the Intel Court ruling on the (...) -
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Merger control in the hospital sector: Focus on the international decision-making practiceIn light of the French Competition Authority’s recent conditional clearance decision in the hospital care sector, it is interesting to examine the merger control experiences of other countries in this distinctive and sensitive sector. This article proposes a comparative study of the American, (...) -
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Specialisation of jurisdictions concerning restrictive practices: The consequences of the reversal in case law of 29 March 2017Since the case law was overturned on 29 March 2017, the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of appeal of Paris to hear appeals lodged against decisions on practices which restrict competition is limited to only decisions issued by specialized courts under Articles L.442-6, III, 5° and D.442-3 of (...) -
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Compensation litigation of anti-competitive practices (January 2017 – July 2017)The decisions commented in this article confirm the main features of the private enforcement of antitrust law in France. It involves mostly businesses. However, the cases brougth to French courts are less homogeneous than those of the previous periods. Concerning the legal issues dealt by (...) -
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Current developments in European and French antitrust investigations (October 2016 – May 2017)This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DGCOMP and the French Competition Authorities. The new rules, case law and agency initiatives in that field over the past eight months are covered. At the EU level, the Commission notably published (...) -
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State aid and the principle of economic continuity: The consistency of the notion and the effective protection of the competitors and the buyersThis article examines the notion of economic continuity which, in the field of state aid, allows the Commission to determine that the obligation of recovery should be extended to the transferee of the initial beneficiary of the aid. To that end, the analysis of the question of procedure allows (...) -
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The “Sapin 2” Law: What it changes for commercial relationshipsFrench Law No. 2016-1691 of 9 December 2016 on Transparency, Fight Against Corruption And Modernization Of Economic Life, known as the Sapin 2 Law, provides for significant changes in commercial law. This law was adopted in a context of agricultural crises and persistent unbalanced (...) -
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Anticompetitive practices private enforcement in France (May 2016 – December 2016)The decisions commented in this article confirm the main features of the private enforcement of antitrust law in France. It is still a varied litigation between businesses. In follow-on litigations, claimants experience some recurring problems regarding prescription and passing on defence. In (...) -
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Real review timetables under the EU Merger RegulationThis article presents the results of an empirical analysis of how long EU Merger Regulation reviews, and in particular pre-notifcation discussions, actually take. Our research shows that pre-notification and overall review periods for all types of cases—Short Form/simplifed, normal Phase I, and (...) -
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Altice / Numericable: Did the French Competition Authority jump too far?The Altice/Numericable decision from the French Competition Authority is striking in two respects: it is the highest fine (€80 million) ever imposed by a competition authority for gun jumping and one of the very first decisions in Europe to outline the rules applicable to the acquirer and a (...) -
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The effects of increased globalization and regulator coordination on antitrust discoveryMerger review processes for complex, multinational deals have become significantly more complicated over the past 20 years. Increased coordination among competition authorities around the world creates new considerations for parties to multinational deals, requiring them to balance the need to (...) -
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Update on competition investigations in European Union and France (January – September 2016)This article provides an update on the rules applying to antitrust investigations carried out by DG COMP and the French competition authorities. The new rules, case law and agencies’ initiatives in that field over the past nine months are covered. At the EU level, the article provides comments (...) -
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Competition Compliance 2.0Over the past decade, competition authorities have encouraged companies to deploy competition compliance programs and have developed numerous recommendations to that effect. At the same time, other compliance mechanisms were developed notably in the financial regulation and fight against (...) -
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Guidelines for financial buyers of U.S. antitrust divestituresThis article has been nominated for the 2016 Antitrust Writing Awards. Click here to learn more about the Antitrust Writing Awards. In transactions raising significant antitrust issues, divestiture of one firm’s business in the overlap market(s) at issue can often resolve the antitrust (...)
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