Michele Giannino

In the BPER/Unipol Banca case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally authorized the acquisition of Unipol Banca Spa (UP) by BPER Banca Spa (BPER) . The ICA took the view that the proposed merger might restrain competition in many banking markets in the region of Sardinia (...)

Introduction By the judgment handed down in Bosco v Banca Popolare di Bergamo, the Italian Court of Cassation has considered the evidentiary value of a decision made by the Bank of Italy concerning an anti-competitive practice in the banking sector. The question addressed by the Court of (...)

By its decision in Sky/R2 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally authorized a merger between two pay TV operators. The parties executed the merger before the ICA concluded its assessment on the competition impact of the transaction. And because the merger was found to (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation against several undertakings belonging to the Amazon group in the FBA case. The targets of the ICA investigation are Amazon Services Europe (ASE), Amazon Europe Core (AEC), Amazon EU (AEU), Amazon Italia (...)

In the recent Wood Fire Service case, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has found two anti-competitive agreements put in place by several players in the market for the provision of wood fire prevention services. The first anti-competitive agreement took the shape of a bid rigging practice (...)

By its recent judgment in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanners (MRI Scanners) the Italian Council of State uphold on appeal the judgement previously handed down by the Regional Administrative Court of Latium (TAR Latium)[[ Regional Administrative Court of Latium (TAR Latium), Case 5559/2012, (...)

In the Car Finance case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has levied a record-breaking fine of overall € 670 million on the participants to a secret cartel affecting the business sector of car hire purchase. The anticompetitive agreement was put in place by several car manufacturers, BMW, (...)

By a First Phase decision rendered in Eurocar/Dorigoni, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) gave an unconditional go-ahead to a merger between two dealers admitted to the Italian distribution network for motor vehicles manufactured by the Volkswagen Group (VW). The ICA considered the (...)

Adjudicating an appeal lodged by a cartelist that then divested its business in the Coveris case, the General Court of the EU (GC) held that the European Commission correctly grounded the competition liability of the appellant on the general principle of personal liability instead of the (...)

In Takeda/Shire, the European Commission has conditionally cleared a concentration between two drug manufacturers by accepting a divestment remedy in the context of the Phase I Investigation. The planned merger operation Takeda and Shire are two major global pharmaceutical companies (...)

Closing a Second Phase investigation in the Luxottica/Barberini case, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared a merger between two major players in the optical industry. After an in-depth review of the transaction, the ICA took the view that the notified merger may (...)

Pursuant to Article 16(4) of the Law no. 287/1990, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has decided to open a Second Phase investigation into a merger between two undertakings operating in the optical field where they manufacture, amongst other things, sunglasses and lenses for sunglasses. (...)

Merger, notification, autohorisation, banking, market definition, : clearance Phase (I) merger, economic efficiency, high market shares, relevant market, By a recent decision the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has unconditionally approved the creation of a cooperative banking group. The (...)

By a decision issued in Ryanair/LaudaMotion, whose public version has been recently published, the EU Commission has approved the Ryanair acquisition of the Austrian carrier LaudaMotion. Considering the expected economic effects of the planned merger through the lenses of the O&D approach (...)

Following a request for an advised opinion made by an Icelandic judge, the EFTA Court has handed down a judgement in the Fjarskipti v Siminn case touching on some procedural and substantive competition law issues. The EFTA Court clarified which are the rules that in the EFTA legal system apply (...)

Introduction The European Commission has closed by a compatibility decision a State aid enquiry in the Sumburgh Airport case concerning public financial support granted in the form of SGEI compensation to the Scotland-based airport of Sumburgh . After establishing that the UK authorities has (...)

In the Flash Fiber case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed by a commitment decision an Article 101 TFEU investigation into a horizontal cooperation agreement concerning the telecommunication sector. After the implementation of the commitments agreed with the parties, the ICA (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed by an infringement decision an Article 102 TFEU investigation against two major ferry operators, Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione (CIN) and Moby Spa (Moby), in the Case A487, Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione-Trasporto marittimo delle merci (...)

Introduction In Bornholm Airport the European Commission has declared the PSO compensation granted by the Danish authorities to the Bornholm Airport compatible with the internal market on the ground of the SGEI exception. Agreeing with Denmark, the Commission viewed the Bornholm Airport as a (...)

Applying the doctrine of essential facilities to IP assets in the SIE case (decision no. 26312 of 21 December 2016, Case A503 Società Iniziative Editoriali/Servizi di rassegna stampa della Provincia di Trento- SIE), the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) found that a publisher infringed (...)

In the recent Unilever/Distribuzione Gelati case, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has deal with the issue whether the commercial policies of the leading player in the ice cream impulse sector breached 102 TFEU. The conduct of the dominant firm, Unilever, consisted in a number of (...)

By the judgment recently rendered in the KPN/Commission case , the General Court of the EU (GC) has quashed the decision previously made by the European Commission by which it gave a conditional go-ahead to the Ziggo acquisition by Liberty Global. The appeal was filed by a competitor of the (...)

Introduction In the Gara Consip AdA case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has imposed competition fines on several consultancy firms belonging to the global networks of Deloitte, KPMG, Ernst&Young (EY) and PWC for breaching Article 101 TFEU. These firms were found to have put in (...)

On replying to the preliminary questions referred by the Supreme Court of Latvia (SCL), in AKKA v LAA the CJEU has accepted a methodology other than the two-limb United Brands test to establish an excessive pricing practice. The CJEU also clarifies the criteria to set the amount of the fine (...)

By the judgement handed down in Aspen v AGCM , the Regional Administrative Court of Latium (the Court) has recently determined the appeal lodged by a South African manufacturer of generic drugs, Aspen, against the 2016 decision made by Italian Competition Authority (ICA), rejected all the (...)

* Article published on StateAidHub.eu Blog (click here), republished in e-Competitions with the courtesy of the author(s). The original title of this article appears below the e-Competitions title. Authors are welcome to write an alternative article on this case/text, provided they have no (...)

In the Venetian Banks case, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) gave an unconditional go-ahead to a rescue banking merger. By this merger operation, a major Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP) would take over the banking activities of two regional ailing banks, Banca Popolare di Vicenza (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently closed an Article 101 TFEU investigation it had opened in the case ABI/SEDA by an infringement decision. The ICA found the parties to have put in place an anti-competitive agreement in the banking sector. Though the agreement was qualified as (...)

In SIAE-Assomusica , the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation and Article 101 TFEU investigation into restrictive business practices put in place in the copyright management sector. The facts of the case The ICA investigations were triggered by the (...)

Introduction By an appeal judgment released in the SEA v AGCM case , the Administrative Court for the Region of Latium (the Court) has partially upheld the challenged decision made by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in Cedicor/SEA , by which the ICA fined the manager of the Milan (...)

By the recent decision handed down in the case Usi in Materia di Mediazione Immobiliare (UMMI) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed an antitrust investigation by finding two price-fixing arrangements in the market for the real estate brokerage services agents implemented by two (...)

The Regional Administrative Court for Latium (the Court) has recently handed down four judgments on the appeals filed against the infringement decision made by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the School Cleaning Services case [[ICA, decision of 22 December 2015, Case I785 Gara (...)

By the recent Volkswagen Group Italia (VGI) judgement , the Italian Supreme Court or Court of Cassation (the Court) has ruled that the plan for the reorganization of its Italian distribution network implemented by a German car manufacturer did not breach competition. The Court considered the (...)

By the decision made on 29 September 2016 in Aspen , the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has imposed a fine of more than EUR 5 million on the Aspen group (Aspen), a South African manufacturer of generic drugs. Aspen was found to have infringed Article 102 TFEU by imposing excessive prices (...)

In the merger case Banca per lo Sviluppo della Cooperazione di Credito/Banca Romagna Cooperativa-Credito Cooperativo Romagna Centro e Macerone the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) found that a bank, trading nationwide in Italy, finalized and executed the purchase of a smaller regional bank (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation in the case Gara TPL Padova concerning a competitive tender procedure for the selection of a local public transport operator . Later, on the basis of Article 14-bis of the Italian Competition Act no. (...)

By a judgment issued in Rai servizi post-produzione the Regional Administrative Court of Latium (the Court) reversed a previous infringement decision made by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). The Court held that the ICA failed to establish an anti-competitive concerted practice to the (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 18 May 2016 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has decided to start a Phase-II investigation into the proposed acquisition of Linea Group Holding (LGH) by A2A on the basis of Article 16 of the Italian Competition Act n. 287/90 . Pursuant to Article 6 of (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently closed an antitrust investigation in the ‘Mortgage interest rates agreement’ case by finding guilty two cooperative trade associations and 14 small cooperative banks for carrying out two price-fixing agreements in the province of Bolzano (the (...)

Introduction By the decision made on 10 December 2015 in Onorato Partcipazioni-Newco/Moby-Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione (OP/Moby-CIN), the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared a concentration involving two major ferry operators active on maritime routes connecting (...)

Introduction By a judgment handed down on 16 November 2015 in the case Eco Trass et al v AGCM (Eco Trass) the Regional Administrative Court of Latium (the Court) rejected the appeal against the infringement decision made by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the case I765, Gare (...)

By a decision made on 11 November 2015 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed a II-phase investigation into the proposed acquisition of Seat Pagine Gialle (Seat) by Libero Acquisition (Libero) in the Libero Acquisition/Seat Pagine Gialle case . The merging parties were media (...)

By a recent judgment made on 11 June 2013 in the Sardinia Ferries Fares case1, the Italian Council of State (CS) has rejected the appeal filed by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) against the judgment of administrative court of first instance (Tar Lazio)2, which overturned the (...)

By a decision made on 15 July 2015 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared a concentration between two publicly held regional energy firms, Società Elettrica Altoatesina (SEL) and Azienda Energetica (AE), operating in the North-east of Italy in the province of Bolzano. (...)

In Baby Products by a decision made on 9 July 2015 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared a merger between retailers of baby products (Case C11982, Enrico Preziosi-Artsana/Newco-Bimbo Store) . The ICA started a phase II investigation into the notified merger since it (...)

In the Forniture Trenitalia case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed an Article 101 TFEU investigation into a collusive tendering practice with an infringement decision . It found 13 firms guilty of bid-rigging and imposed on them a total fine of € 1,987,307.16 for regulating (...)

In Servizi di post-produzione di programmi televisivi-Rai (Rai TV post production services) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has found that several operators infringed Article 2 of the Italian Competition Act no. 287/90, corresponding to Article 101 TFEU, as they were guilty of (...)

By a commitment decision made on 21 April 2015 in the Mercato dei Servizi Turistici-Prenotazione Alberghiere Online case (thereinfter Online Hotel Reservation) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed an Article 101 TFEU investigation against Booking. The ICA has launched the (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 3 February 2015 in the case I765, Gare Gestioni Fanghi, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has found Alan, Azienda Agricola Allievi, CRE, Ecotrass and Evergreen Italia to have infringed Article 2 of the Italian Competition Act n. 287/90, corresponding to (...)

By a decision made on 28 January 2015 in the case Organizzazione Servizi Marittimi nel Golfo di Napoli (Gulf of Naples) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has imposed fines in excess of € 14 million on seven ferry operators (Alilauro, Alilauro Gruson, SLMGL, NLG, SNAV and Medmar Navi), two (...)

By a recent judgment in the case Novartis-Roche/AGCM the Regional Administrative Court of Latium (the Court) has uphold on appeal the decision made by Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the Roche/Novartis case. The ICA had imposed on Roche and Novartis a fine of Euro 180 million for an (...)

In the case Incremento Prezzo Farmaco-Aspen (Aspen) the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation against Aspen, a South African manufacturer of generic drugs . Aspen was alleged to have abused its dominance position by imposing excessive prices (...)

In the Case I768 Purchase Supercentre1 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed by a commitment decision an Article 101 TFEU investigation against Centrale Italiana (CI), a purchase supercentre set up by many supermarket chains. The ICA believed that the CI activities might restrain (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 17 July 2014 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation against two consortia active in the plastic recycling market (Case A476, Aliplast/CONAI-COREPLA ). The ICA feared that CONAI and COREPLA had abused their (...)

In the Online Hotel Reservation case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has launched an Article 101 TFEU investigation into contracts entered by two major online travel agencies (OTA), Expedia and Booking, with their partner hotels. More precisely, the ICA investigation will focus on the (...)

In the Photovoltaic Inverter case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 101 TFEU investigation into an alleged resale price maintenance agreement (RPM) in the photovoltaic market . Recently, the ICA decided to publish and subject to a market test the set of behavioural (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently closed by a commitment decision an Article 102 TFEU investigation it had opened last year against the previous rail monopolist, the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) group . In the NTV/Fs/Ostacoli all’accesso al mercato dei servizi passeggeri ad alta (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) will investigate into bid rigging practices that are thought to have affected a number of tender procedures organized by some regional health authorities for the award of contracts for the supply of a tumour drug (Case I770 Octreotid Supplies). The facts (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 20 December 2013 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 102 investigation against the manager of the Milan airports, SEA (Case A474, Cedicor/SEA). SEA was alleged to have abused its dominant position by foreclosing the market for the (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 4th December 2013 in the Centrale di Acquisto per la grande distribuzione autorizzata (Purchase Supercenter) case the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 101 TFEU enquiry into the agreement concluded by several supermarket chains for the (...)

In the Sanità privata nella regione Abruzzo (Healthcare Private Providers) case, by the decision made on 6 November 2013, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an investigation against a number of private healthcare providers, Synergo, Villa Serena, Di Lorenzo and Villa Letizia. (...)

Introduction By a recent judgment made in the IFI v Agenzia Entrate (Revenue Agency) case the Italian Court of Cassation or Supreme Court has ruled that it is upon the plaintiff seeking damages from harm caused by anticompetitive practices to prove the quantum of such damages. The legal advice (...)

Following the receipt of many complaints filed by several passengers between 2009 and 2013 reporting steady increases in the fares applied by ferry operators in the Strait of Messina, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened an Article 101 TFEU investigation. The proceedings (...)

By a decision made on 18 June 2013 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened a monitoring proceedings under Article 19 of the Competition Act n. 287/1990 against CIN and Moby to verify compliance with the conditional authorization of the CIN/Tirrenia merger in the ferry sector . The (...)

By a decision made on 11 June 2013 in the Sardinia Ferry Fares the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has detected a price-fixing agreement affecting the maritime connection between Sardinia and Continental Italy . Moby, SNAV, Grandi Navi Veloci and Marinvest were found to have coordinated (...)

By a decision made on 22 May 2013, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an enquiry to establish whether the previous rail monopolist, the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) group, had abused its dominant position in the market for high speed rail services. The ICA decision was based on a (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently reviewed the merger between the Gemina group that owns ADR, the manager of the Rome’s airports of Fiumicino and Ciampino and Atlantia owned by the Edizione group whose subsidiaries WDFG and Autogrill are active in the airport retail sector. (...)

By a decision made on 17 April 2013 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has prohibited the Italgas and Acegas-APS acquisition of the joint control of Isontina Reti Gas (IRG). The ICA believed that the notified transaction would strengthen the dominant position of Italgas and Acegas-APS in (...)

The Italian Competition Authority launches an investigation against a cartel allegedly carried out by Roche and Novartis in the pharmaceutical market (Roche Novartis) The facts of the case The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 101 TFEU proceedings against Roche and (...)

By the decision made on 5 December 2012 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) closed a phase II merger investigation into the proposed acquisition of Bolton Alimentari (Bolton) of the Simmenthal business branch from Kraft. The ICA reached the conclusion that the merger would have a negative (...)

The Italian Competition Authority asserts its jurisdiction on a concentration between two firms owned by the State and conditionally clears it (CDP/Snam) By a decision made on 8 August 2008, the Italian Competition Authority has conditionally cleared the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) (...)

In the Arenaways case by a decision made on 25 July 2012, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has fined the Italian publicly-owned railway undertaking, the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) group, for infringing Article 102 TFEU. FS put in place a complex unified strategy aimed at hindering the (...)

By a second phase investigation decision the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently cleared the Alitalia acquisition of a low cost carrier, Wind Jet. To deal with the post merger dominant position of Alitalia on the Milan-Catania, Rome-Catania and Milan-Palermo routes, the ICA imposed (...)

Introduction By a decision made on 21 June 2012 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has cleared the acquisition of the ferry service branch of the debt-stricken publicly owned ferry operator Tirrenia by Compagnia Italiana di Navigazione (CIN). The go-ahead for the transaction was made (...)

Introduction On the basis of Law Decree 134/2008 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) conditionally cleared the Alitalia/Air One merger by imposing a set of behavioral remedies to prevent the imposition of excessive prices. It also set the a three-year deadline for the review of the (...)

On appeal the Regional Administrative Court for Lazio (Tar Lazio) has annulled the non infringement decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) regarding the refusal of the owner of a theatre to grant a theatre troupe access to it. The Tar Lazio applied the doctrine of essential (...)

By the decision made on 14 March 2012 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has fined Messinambiente for abusing its dominant position in the market for waste management services. Messinambiente infringed competition law because it failed to supply a set of data requested by a public (...)

By a decision taken on 22 February 2012 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has fined 15 firms and two trade associations for taking part in a secret cartel having as object the fixing of the fees charged by the shipping agents of the port of Genoa. The facts of the case In May 2010 the (...)

Introduction The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) imposed a euros 39.377.489,00 fine on Poste Italiane (PI), the Italian incumbent post operator, for breaching Article 102 TFEU. PI abused its dominant position by engaging into a number of exclusionary practices against its competitor, TNT (...)

On appeal on the Cartel of large retailers for cosmetics and health care products decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) the Regional Administrative Tribunal of Latium (Tar Latium) examined full immunity and fine reductions granted to a number of cartelists pursuant to the ICA (...)

Introduction The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally cleared the Moby acquisition of a regional ferry operator, Toremar. Though the notified merger was likely to give Moby a monopoly position on the market for ferry services on the Piombino-Portoferraio ruote, the ICA has (...)

By a recent decision, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed the infringement procedure on whether the parties to the bank merger Banca Intesa/San Paolo IMI had correctly implemented the remedies imposed in the conditional authorization of the transaction. The ICA was happy with the (...)

Introduction By a ruling of 12 July 2011 the Italian Council of State has rejected the appeal proposed by Divella against the judgment of the Administrative Regional Court of Lazio (Tar Lazio) on the Pricing of Pastacase. Divella, a pasta manufacturer, had challenged the decision of the (...)

Introduction By the Sapec Agro/Bayer-Helm decision the Italian Competition Authority has fined € 5.124.359,00 Bayer Cropscience AG (BCS) and its Italian subsidiary Bayer Cropscience Srl for abuse of dominant position in the market for the production and commercialization of fosetyl-based (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened an Article 101 TFEU investigation into alleged price-fixing practice that a number of ferry operators would be carrying out on the market for Italy and Sardinia maritime links. The facts of the case Consumer associations and public (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally authorized the Intesa San Paolo (ISP) acquisition of Banca Monte Parma (BMPR)by a second phase investigation decision . The ICA imposed a set of remedies to fix the competition concerns arising from a dominant position between ISP and (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has decided to open a Second Phase investigation into the Intesa San Paolo (ISP) acquisition of Banca Monte Parma (BMPR). The ICA held that the transaction was likely to result in the creation or strengthening of a dominant position in a number of banking (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently reviewed the remedies attached to the 2006 conditional authorization of the Banca Intesa/Sanpaolo IMI merger. The remedies addressed the competition problems the merger would have caused in life insurance markets. The ICA considered the (...)

By a decision taken on 15 December, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an investigation into abusive conducts allegedly put into place by the incumbent national railway undertaking, the group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS). FS would have frustrated the entry into the market for rail (...)

Introduction By a commitments decision taken on 30 September 2010 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) closed two parallel investigations against the Italian Banking Association (ABI) and Consorzio Bancomat, respectively. The ICA found the set of commitments offered by the parties to be (...)

Introduction By a commitment decision the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed investigation into foreclosing conducts carried out by a major Italian ferry operator, Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) in the market for maritime links between Northern Italy and Western Sicily. The most (...)

It seems that the Banca Intesa/San Paolo IMI merger case may finally come to an end. By a recent decision, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) accepted the remedies offered by the parties to ensure the correct implementation of the obligations they undertook for the regulatory approval of (...)

By a judgment of December 2009 the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium decided on the appeal against the decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the Pricing of Pasta case. The ICA had fined 26 pasta manufacturers and two trade association for having cartelized the market (...)

Two investigations conducted by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) against the incumbent rail operator, the Ferrovie dello Stato group (FS), over alleged infringements of Article 82 EC have been closed by a commitment and an acquittal decision. The ICA started the investigations against FS (...)

By a decision taken on 22 October 2009 the Competition Commission (CC) has changed its provisional findings of August and unconditionally cleared the Stagecoach acquisition of two local bus operators in Eastbourne, Eastbourne Buses Limited (EBL) and Cavendish. The CC was referred the (...)

The Italian Competition Authority or ICA opened an Article 82 proceedings against a major Italian ferry operator, Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV)[alian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato - AGCM), 6 August 2009, Case n° A417, Decision n° 20179, T-Link/Grandi Navi (...)

1. Introduction By its decision of 17 August 2009 the OFT unconditionally cleared the Govia acquisition of South Central Passenger Rail Franchise (the Franchise) without referring it to the Competition Commission for further examination. The OFT decision is worth reading for it makes some (...)

By a decision taken on 14 May 2009, the Italian Competition Authority or ICA has opened an investigation into whether the parties to the BancaIntesa/San Paolo IMI concentration fulfilled the remedies imposed with the conditional authorization of the transaction . The ICA conditional (...)

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has recently referred to the Competition Commission (CC) two mergers between local bus operators . In October and December 2008, Stagecoach acquired the entire share capital of two Eastbourne local bus operators, first Eastbourne Buses and Cavendish Motor (...)

The regional administrative court of Sardinia (Tar Sardinia) has adjudicated on the provision of the regulation adopted by Port Authority of Olbia and Golfo Aranci or PAOGA in 2007 (the regulation) regarding the requirements to provide port operations at the ports of Olbia and Golfo Aranci in (...)

By a recent decision, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed an investigation into two anticompetitive agreements affecting the banking market for payment services by accepting and making binding a set of commitments presented by the parties upon the basis of Art. 14-ter of the Act (...)

The French Competition Council (FCC) has imposed a € 300,000 fine on Société National Maritime Corse Méditerranée (SNCM) for abusing its dominant position by offering a global indivisible bid in the tender procedure for the assignation of a number of maritime routes linking Marseille with Corsica to (...)

In the Pricing of Pasta case, by a decision likely to spark much controversy, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has condemned for price-fixing practices 26 pasta makers, accounting for almost 90% of the market. The ICA also fined two industry associations, Unipi (the Italian Pasta (...)

Following a request filed by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA), the Council of State (CoS), the Italian higher administrative court, has given an opinion on the alleged conflict of jurisdiction between the ICA and the Italian financial regulator (Consob) on the regulation of unfair (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has ruled that SEA, the manager of the Milan airports of Linate and Malpensa breached Art. 82 EC and imposed on it a fine of € 1,549,000. SEA abused its dominant position it enjoyed at the airports of Linate and Malpensa as holder of an exclusive licence (...)

By a recent decision, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) accepted and made binding a set of commitments proposed by Ferrovie dello stato (FS) and its wholly owned subsidiary Rete Ferroviaria italiana (RFI), the Italian incumbent railway undertaking and the manager of the national rail (...)

By a recent decision the OFT accepted the commitments offered by the merging parties upon the basis of Article 73 of Enterprise Act and conditionally cleared the Air France Finance-City Jet/VLM Airlines merger instead of referring it to the Competition Commission (CC) . The decision is (...)

Last October the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has closed investigations started in 2006 following complaints received by several freight operators and airlines about the anticompetitive practices of Aeroporti di Roma (ADR) . ADR is the dominant operator at the Rome’ airports of Fiumicino (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently revised and modified the commitments it imposed for the approval of the 2006 concentration between two major Italian air carriers, Alitalia and Volare. The ICA conditionally cleared the transaction by requiring Alitalia to release the (...)

By a recent decision the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has condemned the Rome’s branch of the Italian trade association of bakers (Unione Panificatori) for fixing retail prices for bread in the city and province of Rome. The facts of the case In September 2007, following a meeting of the (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) fined Federfarma Teramo, an association regrouping pharmacies located in the province of Teramo, Central Italy, for fixing the retail prices of a number of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals via a circular detailing the maximum discounts applicable to (...)

The regional administrative court of Lazio (TAR) has upheld a controversial decision of the Italian Competition Authority (Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) regarding a number of anticompetitive practices carried out by TIM, Wind and Vodafone in the telecommunication markets. The (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA), by a commitments decision upon the basis of Article 14-ter of the Act 287/1990, has closed proceedings against Poste Italiane (PI) for abuse of dominant position. PI, the incumbent postal operator, has been alleged to impose on rivals burdensome (...)

On 17 January 2008 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has conditionally authorised a concentration between two large Italian banking groups by requiring them to divest a number of branches and their stake in Agos, a consumer credit operator. The merging parties The merging parties are (...)

Introduction The Italian regional administrative court of Lazio (TAR) has upheld a decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) that had categorized transfers of retail trade licences as concentrations. The TAR approved the condemnation of Lidl Italia (LI) for failing to notify the (...)

A) The proposed merger The Italian Competition Authority has unconditionally approved a merger between two publicly-owned multiutility firms, AEM and ASM Brescia (ASM). According to the merger agreement, AEM shall absorb ASM and the resulting entity shall be denominated A2A. The municipality (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has condemned 15 bus operators, SITA, APM, COTRI, ACTV, GTT, Transdev, ATCM, Trambus, ATC Bologna, ATAF, ATC La Spezia, ATP, Tempi, TEP and APAM, for collusive tendering carried out since 2001 until 2007. The penalised firms agreed to coordinate their (...)

Introduction With a decision adopted on 18 September 2007 the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) opened investigation against Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) for abuse of dominant position in the market for railway transport. The abusive conduct complained of (...)

The factual background On 18 October 2007 the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) closed investigations on the Enel Distribuzione (ED) policy for the conclusion of new electricity supply contracts after ED committed to conform the above policy to competition rules. The market concerned is (...)

The Italian Consiglio di Stato (Council of State) in the Sagit judgement, consistently with its recent case law, holds that third party competitors can bring action against a negative decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA), which has not found any violation of competition law. A) (...)

On 17 May 2007 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) fined eight firms for carrying out a cartel from January 2004 to November 2005 through which they allocated market shares and fixed prices in the market for chipboard panels. Four of the fined firms belonged to the Saviola group (Sacie (...)

By a decision (Vernici Marine) dating to 25 January 2007, the Italian Antitrust Authority (AGCM) has condemned five firms - Boat Boero Marine and Protective Coatings Genova (“Boat”), Hempel Italy (“Hempel”), International Paint Italy (“IP”), Jotun Italia (“Jotun”) and Sigma Coatings (“Sigma”) - (...)

Introduction The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) found that Telecom Italia (TI) had abused its dominant position on the fixed network telecommunications service for business customers . The abusive conduct, which violates Article 3 of the Act n° 287 of 1990, was part of a TI strategy aimed (...)

1. Introduction The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has imposed on Enel a fine of € 2,5 million for applying several exclusive dealing arrangements, which have been held to constitute an abuse of dominant position These arrangements were incorporated by Enel Energia (formerly known as Enel (...)

By a decision worth reading the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) cleared a network of agreements concluded by Sagit, the Italian subsidiary of the Unilever group, for the distribution and commercialization of impulse ice creams it produced. First, the ICA found that the agreements did not (...)

Introduction By a decision taken in November 2002 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) found that the ENI Group, the Italian incumbent gas operator, had abused its domain position in retail and transport gas markets in the 2001-02 thermal year. These abusive conducts were part of a complex (...)

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) penalized a ferry operator, the Tourist-Caronte group (T-C) active across the Strait of Messina, for predatory pricing. Interestingly, in this case the ICA did not apply the EU predatory test as set out in the AKZO case which incorporated the standards of (...)

The agreements concluded by Heineken and its Italian subsidiary, Partesa, for the distribution of beer through the horeca trade channel have been found by Italian Competition Authority (ICA) to not be caught by the prohibition of anticompetitive agreements laid down by Section 2 of the Act (...)