Miguel Troncoso Ferrer

On 9 December 2019, the Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager announced the Commission’s intention to launch the review of the Commission Notice on the definition of relevant market for the purposes of Community competition law (‘the Notice’). The Notice dates back from 1997 and (...)

NUFRI, Sociedad Agraria de Transformación, has been fined by the CNMC for implementing a merger prior to its notification. In the beginning of the year, NUFRI acquired fruit-based products’ manufacturer Grupo Indulleida. The transaction was only pre-notified on 15 April 2019 and, subsequently, (...)

The CNMC has opened a formal investigation into 14 film distributors following concerns over anticompetitive practices. In particular, the CNMC suspects that large film distribution companies and the company specialising in digital solutions for the film industry, Ymagis, colluded to harmonise (...)

The CNMC has fined Telefonica 1.5 million for breaching one of the commitments attached to its acquisition of DTS. The merger was cleared in 2015 by the CNMC on the condition that Telefonica fulfilled a number of commitments in the pay TV market. This included, among others, making (...)

On 16 October 2018, the European Commission announced that, in the framework of its investigation into possible anticompetitive practices by Broadcom, it had imposed interim measures on the American company. This is the first time in 18 years that the Commission uses the power enshrined in (...)

The CNMC has dismantled a cartel in the industrial assembly and maintenance sector. According to the CNMC, the practices in question were conducted with the aim of increasing prices in the services provided, mainly, to energy and petrochemical clients. The cartel members engaged in client (...)

Canned vegetables companies Coroos, Groupe CECAB and Bonduelle have been found to have participated in a cartel in the supply of canned vegetables to retailers and food service companies in the European Economic Area (“EEA”). In particular, the Commission’s investigation showed that the (...)

The General Court of the EU annuls cartel fine imposed to HSBC by the Commission due to insufficient motivation (Judgment of the General Court of the EU of 24 September 2019 in Case T-105/17 HSBC Holdings plc, HSBC Bank plc, HSBC France v Commission). In December 2016, the Commission adopted a (...)

In September 2019, the CNMC announced that it had opened disciplinary proceedings against NUFRI, Sociedad Agraria de Transformación A.P.A, an entity active in the wholesale of fruits and vegetables. In particular, the CNMC is concerned that NUFRI could have violated the standstill obligation (...)

In Spain, the dock work sector has been traditionally regulated by Royal Decree 2/1986. This Decree provided special sectorial rules, including the obligation to hire workers from the port docker management limited companies (“Sociedades Anónimas de Gestión de Estibadores Portuarios” or “SAGEP”) (...)

In July 2019, the European Commission published a new Notice on the recovery of unlawful and incompatible State aid, which replaces a previous version of 2007. The aim of the 2007 Notice was to help the recovery process that follows Commission decisions ordering Member States to recover (...)

The investigation of the Commission has found that Sanrio banned traders from selling licensed merchandise of Hello Kitty and other characters outside their territorial coverage but within the European Economic Area (“EEA”). Sanrio is a Japanese company that designs, licenses, produces and sells (...)

The European Commission has fined Canon, the Japan-based imaging and optical products company, €28 million for its failure to fully respect notification and standstill obligations in the acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (“TMSC”). EU merger rules require that merging companies (...)

The Commission has opened an investigation into Broadcom’s commercial practices over a number of competition concerns. Broadcom is one of the world’s largest designers, developers and providers of key components of wired communication devices and is a global leader in the markets of (...)

In 2015, the CNMC approved the acquisition of DTS by Telefónica, subject to a series of commitments relating to the pay television market. Telefónica undertook, inter alia, to make available 100% of its premium channels to third-party operators under conditions which would allow them to (...)

On 11 June 2019, the proposed joint venture (“JV”) between the two companies was prohibited by the Commission. The prohibition is grounded on the effects that the proposed JV would have produced in the market, namely, reduced competition and increased steel prices. The Commission’s decision is (...)

The CNMC has fined SGAE (“Sociedad General de Autores y Editores”) with EUR 2.95 million for abusing its dominant position in the market of management and exploitation of musical and audio-visual intellectual property rights. The CNMC investigation started in 2017, following several complaints. (...)

The Spanish Supreme Court has confirmed the penalty against Repsol for anticompetitive practices consisting in agreements and exchange of strategic information on the prices of fuel in Spain. In the judgement, the Supreme Court has upheld the claims of the State Attorney (central government (...)

On 22 May 2019, the General Court rendered its judgment on the action for annulment filed by Real Madrid against the Commission Decision of 4 July 2018 that (i) declared that the football club had been granted incompatible State aid worth EUR 18 million ; and (ii) ordered Spain to recover this (...)

The Commission has imposed a fine on AB Inveb for abusing its dominant position on the Belgian market by restricting cheaper imports of Jupiler beer from the Netherlands into Belgium AB Inveb is the largest beer brewer in the world. In Belgium, AB Inveb’s most popular beer is Jupiler, (...)

In 2016, the Commission adopted a decision declaring that four Spanish professional football clubs (i.e., Fútbol Club Barcelona, Club Atlético Osasuna, Athletic Club and Real Madrid Club de Fútbol) had received incompatible state aid in the form of corporate tax privileges. As a consequence, Spain (...)

On 22 February 2019, the Commission addressed an SoO to Telefónica Deutschland (“Telefónica”) detailing its concerns that the company may have breached one of the commitments linked to the Commission’s clearance of its acquisition of E-Plus in 2014. In particular, back then, Telefónica committed to (...)

On 6 February 2019, the Commission adopted a prohibition decision against Siemens’ proposed acquisition of Alstom, which aimed at combining the parties transport equipment and service activities. This decision was based on the Commission’s finding that the transaction at issue would (...)

Following the decision of the Portuguese Competition Authority finding that Sport TV had engaged in an abuse of dominance between 2006 and 2011, in February 2015, Cogeco, a Canadian cable company, brought an action for damages against Sport TV Portugal . Cogeco claimed that the EU Damages (...)

On 7 December 2016, the European Commission adopted a decision whereby it fined Crédit agricole, JP Morgan Chase and another bank EUR 485 million for participating in the so-called EURIBOR cartel. The investigation of the Commission revealed that the banks in question had colluded on certain (...)

Background In December 1996, Servicios Funerarios Funemadrid, S.A. (“FUNEMADRID”) was granted with the concession to build and exploit the public municipal cemetery of Leganés, a city located in the Region of Madrid, for a 49-year period. The concession contract established that FUNEMADRID would (...)

In June 2016, the Commission dawn raided the premises of ZSSK, the Slovak incumbent rail operator. The dawn raids followed concerns that ZSSK may have entered into anticompetitive agreements with the aim of foreclosing the market of rail passenger transport to its competitors, in breach of (...)

Six cargo handling companies and five trade unions have been fined by the Spanish Competition Authority (“CNMC”) for concluding agreements that restricted competition in the Port of Vigo (Spain), increased prices and decreased competitiveness. The fines amount to EUR 3 million for the cargo (...)

In 2005, the European Commission cleared the planned acquisition of Swiss by Lufthansa subject to a a number of commitments, which included conditions on fares with regard to the Zurich-Stockholm and Zurich-Warsaw routes. On 4 November 2013, Lufthansa and Swiss submitted a request for a (...)

Five companies (Carat España SAU, Inteligencia y Media SA, Media by Design Spain SA, Media Sapiens Spain SL and Persuade Comunicación) have been sanctioned for a collusive behaviour consisting in the exchange of commercially sensitive information in order to share tenders in the Framework (...)

On 24 April 2018, the European Commission carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of a number of companies active in metal packaging in several Member States. The Commission was accompanied by officials of the relevant national authorities. The investigation follows concerns about (...)

The Spanish Competition Authority (“CNMC”) has fined 9 bar associations EUR 1.4 million for issuing a collective price recommendation regarding lawyers’ professional fees. The case was triggered by a complaint filed by Bankia as a consequence of the numerous claims filed by the bank’s (...)

The Spanish Competition Authority (“CNMC”) has fined ten courier and parcel companies EUR 68 million for participating in a customer-allocation cartel, namely, Correos Express, UPS, TNT, DHL, Touline, RedySer, FEDEX, ICS and MBE. The CNMC has found that some of the companies entered into oral (...)

Four maritime car carriers, two suppliers of spark plugs and two suppliers of braking systems have been fined EUR 395 million, EUR 76 million and EUR 75 million respectively, in the framework of three separate cartel settlement decisions adopted by the European Commission. With regard to the (...)

On 15 October 2014, the Commission found that Spanish tax breaks for indirect shareholding in foreign companies breached EU State Aid rules. The measures were in force since 2001 and, in practical terms, allowed companies subject to tax in Spain to purchase shareholding of at least 5% in (...)

The CNMC has imposed a EUR 91 million fine to Banco Santander, Banco Sabadell, BBVA and Caixabank for colluding to offer interest rate derivatives at different conditions from those agreed with the clients concerned. The derivatives in question were used to cover the risks of the interest rate (...)

The General Court of the EU has dismissed the appeal filed by Brussels South Charleroi Airport (“BSCA”) against a 2014 Commission decision whereby Belgium was ordered to recover illegal State aid granted to BSCA. In its decision, the Commission found that a series of measures adopted by the (...)

Gun-jumping rules prevent companies, subject to the obligation to notify, from completing a merger or acquisition, in whole or in part, prior to obtaining the approval from the relevant Competition Authorities. In May 2014, Ernst & Young (EY) acquisition of KPMG’s Danish unit was approved (...)

A Portuguese court (Tribunal Judicial da Comarca de Lisboa) has referred the first preliminary ruling request on Directive 2014/104 ("the EU Damages Directive") to the Court of Justice of the EU. The reference of the case is C-637/17. The main question referred by the Portuguese court aims at (...)

In July 2004, the European Confederation of Watch and Clock Repairers’ Association (“CEAHR”) led a complaint with the Commission arguing that there was (i) an agreement or a concerted practice between a number of luxury watch manufacturers and (ii) an abuse of dominant positionresulting from (...)

The European Commission has found that Luxembourg granted undue tax benefits to Amazon worth around €250 million. These benefits allowed Amazon to pay four times less taxes than other companies Luxembourg is now required to recover the amount that Amazon should have paid. This decision follows (...)

The European Commission has referred Ireland to the Court of Justice of the EU for failing to comply with its Decision of 30 August 2016. In the said decision, the Commission established that Ireland had granted certain tax benefits to Apple allowing the la er to pay substantially less tax (...)

In 1981, Belgium adopted a special social security scheme called “Maribel”. According to that scheme, undertakings employing manual workers enjoyed a reduction in social security contributions for all such workers. That scheme had a general and automatic application and was therefore not deemed (...)