The EU Court of Justice ("CJEU") has recently clarified the scope of legal professional privilege ("LPP") under EU law. The CJEU ruled that LPP applies to all communications between EEA-qualified external lawyers and their...more
The long-awaited European Court of Justice's judgment in Towercast confirmed that national competition authorities (and national courts) can apply abuse of dominance rules to mergers that did not trigger EU and national...more
On 6 February 2023, the European Commission launched a four-week public consultation on the draft Implementing Regulation on proceedings under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). Whilst the Commission has made an effort...more
On 12 January 2023, the EU Court of Justice upheld the EU General Court’s judgment imposing a fine on Lithuanian Railways for dismantling a section of railway track. While reaffirming its essential facility case law...more
On 9 December 2022, the European Commission published its draft DMA Implementing Regulation for consultation, together with the proposed Notification Form for "gatekeepers". The text deals with notifications, submissions and...more
On 28 November 2022, the EU adopted the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, giving the European Commission powers to intervene to tackle foreign subsidies distorting competition in the EU internal market. The FSR, due to apply by...more
Advocate General Kokott has found that the General Court erred in law in requiring the European Commission to show anti-competitive effects of a merger with “strong probability” and that the scope of its judicial review was...more
10/28/2022
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Investment ,
Judicial Review ,
Mergers ,
Standard of Proof ,
Telecommunications ,
UK
Advocate General Juliane Kokott has proposed that the EU Court of Justice should find that competition authorities have the power to apply Article 102 TFEU to corporate transactions that are not reportable, and test under...more
On 18 May and 22 June 2022, the EU General Court upheld two European Commission prohibition decisions. Both judgments endorsed the European Commission's assessment of the mergers at issue, recognising a broad margin of...more
9/19/2022
/ Appeals ,
Buyers ,
Competition ,
Declaratory Judgments ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
European Merger Control Regulation ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Remedies ,
Standard of Proof ,
Standard of Review
The General Court of the European Union delivered a blow to the European Commission in fully annulling its Qualcomm (exclusivity payments) decision of 2018 and a EUR 997 million fine. Qualcomm v Commission1 is the first...more
6/17/2022
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Apple ,
Business Disputes ,
Business Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Due Process ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreclosure ,
Qualcomm ,
Right of Access ,
Third-Party
On 18 May 2022, the EU General Court (GC) upheld the European Commission's (EC) € 28 million fine imposed on Canon for gun-jumping in the context of a (somewhat unique) so-called warehousing structure. The judgment confirms...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
4/28/2022
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Failure to Notify ,
Fines ,
France ,
French Competition Authority ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Takeovers
There have been a number of developments in merger control in 2020 and Q1 2021. Some are related to the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, while others are borne out of the ambitions and changes sought by individual...more
On 25 March 2021, the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") dismissed all the appeals against the European Commission's decision to fine Lundbeck and several other companies for entering into anti-competitive patent settlement...more
In the midst of the Homeric battle between Veolia and its takeover target, Suez, the European Commission rejects Suez's gun-jumping claim and provides further clarifications on the scope of the exemption to the standstill...more
The mobile payments sector is on regulatory tenterhooks following the increase in the use of mobile wallets and the entry of new competitors, including tech companies, in the sector. The European Commission ("EC") just...more
10/31/2020
/ American Express ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
APIs ,
Big Tech ,
China ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
European Economic Area (EEA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Informational Studies ,
Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR) ,
Interchange Fees ,
Libor ,
Member State ,
Mobile Payments ,
Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) ,
United States
Please join us for a panel discussion featuring Europe's leading experts on Antitrust/Competition Law.
Key topics of discussion:
- Regulatory Investigation Tools and Powers - The Rise of Dawn Raids
- Digital...more
10/23/2020
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Cooperation ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Digital Marketplace ,
Digital Platforms ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
Financial Distress ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Webinars
A recent speech1 by the European Commission's (the Commission) Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager (the Commissioner), on the 30th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR), praised it as having created "a...more
The European Court of Justice's ruling in Paroxetine, handed down in record time just before Brexit, confirms the narrow interpretation of restrictions by object given in other recent cases. It also clarified certain issues...more
2/19/2020
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
EU ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reverse Payment Settlement Agreements ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)