The French Constitutional Council upholds the constitutionality of the Competition Authority’s power to withdraw merger clearance decisions and of its internal organisation (Canal / Vivendi)

Following a request for a preliminary ruling on constitutionality by Groupe Canal Plus (“Canal Plus”) and Vivendi Universal (“Vivendi”, parent company of Canal Plus), on 12 October 2012 [1] the French Constitutional Council upheld the constitutionality of the power of the French Competition Authority (the “Authority”) to withdraw a merger clearance decision, which had been used for the first time in its September 2011 decision to withdraw the conditional clearance of the merger of Canal Plus‘ and TPS’ pay-tv activities [2]. The Constitutional Council also rejected the constitutional challenge brought by CGP/Vivendi to the organisation of the prosecuting and decision-making process of the Authority. The decision is the first decision taken by the Constitutional Council in a competition