This newsletter is a summary of the antitrust developments we think are most interesting to your business. David Higbee (Global Head of Antitrust) and Dominic Long (Global Deputy Head of Antitrust) are our editors this month....more
In a significant development for French merger control, on May 2, 2024 the French Competition Authority applied the jurisprudence laid down in the recent Towercast case to an alleged anti-competitive agreement matter in the...more
The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) is committed to an “open door” policy to support companies wishing to pursue projects around sustainable development. Continuing its informal policy since 2020, the FCA has published a...more
On February 6, 2024, the French Competition Authority ("l'Autorité") fined chocolate producer De Neuville 4 million euros for vertical agreements. This decision is interesting in several respects...more
On 27 February 2024, the Nîmes Court of Appeal confirmed that an employee may be dismissed for serious misconduct for participating in an anti-competitive cartel. While the risk of companies being penalised for...more
1. CONTENTIEUX - NON-RESPECT DES ENGAGEMENTS : GOOGLE SANCTIONNÉE À HAUTEUR DE 250 MILLIONS DANS L’AFFAIRE DES DROITS VOISINS - Par la décision n°24-D-03 du 15 mars 2024, Google est sanctionnée par l’Autorité de la...more
On 18 October 2023, the Commercial Division of the French Supreme Court (Court of Cassation) issued a noteworthy ruling, in which it judged its own case law on restrictive competition practices to be "complex", a source of...more
1. CONTENTIEUX - BISPHÉNOL A DANS LES CONTENANTS ALIMENTAIRES : PRÈS DE 20 MILLIONS D’EUROS DE SANCTIONS - Par une décision du 29 décembre 2023, l’Autorité de la concurrence (ci-après l’« Autorité ») a prononcé une...more
The European Commission (EC) has published its latest report on competition enforcement in medicines and medical products. Key takeaways are that: EU and Member State authorities imposed multiple material antitrust...more
In an important judgment handed down on 29 June 2023 (Case C-211/22), the Court of Justice of the European Union (the "CJEU") ruled that a vertical agreement to fix minimum prices does not necessarily constitute a restriction...more
1. CONTENTIEUX - PUBLICITÉ EN LIGNE : MESURES CONSERVATOIRES IMPOSÉES À META - Par une décision du 4 mai 2023, l’Autorité de la concurrence (ci-après l’ « Autorité ») a prononcé des mesures conservatoires à l’encontre...more
Dawn raids: the First President of the Paris Court of Appeal orders the destruction and return of mailboxes delivered by a company, whose premises had been searched, after the closure of the dawn raids. On April 5, 2023,...more
Trucks, trucks, trucks – unless you’ve been living under a rock in the antitrust world, you’ve probably heard about, or even worked on, one of the many follow-on litigation claims related to the Commission’s 2016 cartel...more
Welcome to the Litigation Gazette. Each quarter, BCLP's Paris team will keep you informed of the main litigation news in competition law, commercial litigation, labor law, IP/IT/Data and compliance....more
On 16 March 2023, the ECJ published its judgment in Towercast (C-449/21), confirming that Article 102 TFEU (which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position) may apply to transactions which fall below national and EU...more
1. CONTENTIEUX - ACTION EN FOLLOW-ON : ABSENCE DE RÉPARATION POUR LES SOCIÉTÉS DU GROUPE COLAS DANS L’AFFAIRE DU CARTEL DES CAMIONS - Dans un jugement remarqué du 27 octobre 2022, le tribunal de commerce de Lyon a...more
In 2022, the French Competition Authority (the "FCA") maintained a high level of activity, focusing notably on digital markets, which remain one of its key priorities. Last year also brought the first successful failing firm...more
On 6 October 2022, the Paris Court of Appeal (CoA) partially overturned the French Competition Authority (FCA)’s record EUR1.2 billion fine on Apple and two of its wholesalers, Ingram Micro and Tech Data, for antitrust...more
UNIQUE GUN-JUMPING CASE SANCTIONED BY FRENCH COMPETITION AUTHORITY - A new European gun-jumping decision, following the European Court of Justice 2022 Marine Harvest judgment, sends a very strong message to companies that...more
1. CONTENTIEUX - PREMIÈRE DÉCISION D’ENGAGEMENTS DE META - Par une décision du 16 juin 2022, l’Autorité de la concurrence (ADLC) a rendu obligatoires les engagements proposés par Meta, qui marquent, à notre connaissance, ...more
The EU General Court (“General Court”) has confirmed that the European Commission (“Commission”) can examine deals that do not trigger merger control thresholds in the EU or any EEA Member State[1] following a referral...more
On the 13 July 2022, the General Court upheld the European Commission’s decision to accept a referral from Member States under Article 22 of the EU Regulation n°139/2004 on merger control (“EUMR”) to review a deal that fell...more
In a decision dated March 9, 2022 (No. 19/19747), the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on a competition damage claim action for abuse of dominant position brought against Schneider Electric France and Schneider Electric SA by a...more
The French Competition Authority ("FCA") has unconditionally authorized the acquisition of furniture retailer Conforama by Mobilux under the failing firm defence ("FFD"). On 8 July 2019, Mobilux group ("Mobilux")...more
The French Competition Authority ("FCA") fines a company for gun-jumping in a case relating to a progressive takeover and de facto control - On 12 April 2022, the FCA fined the Compagnie Financière Européenne de Prises de...more