Introduction - The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has issued two major decisions in separate cases concerning sporting organisations’ ability to regulate their: (i) competitions; and (ii) members’ activities...more
Businesses intending to undertake substantial mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions or participate in major public procurement projects in the European Union (EU) will soon need to prepare for an additional layer of...more
An open letter was issued in January 2023 by the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in which the two watchdogs have reminded airport operators of their responsibilities...more
The start of 2023 marked six months since the new vertical distribution laws came into effect across the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) – see our earlier summary of the important changes here)....more
As “Holiday Season” is increasingly synonymous with “Sales Season”, and with many sales already in full swing (Black Friday in particular), brands and traders should make sure that their discounting campaigns are compliant...more
The European Commission’s (EC) decision to block Illumina’s acquisition of Grail marks the dawn of a new era for acquisitions of startups with innovation potential. This case involved many “firsts”: It is the first time that...more
OVERVIEW - On 6 May 2022, the European Commission (Commission) published the draft revised Implementing Regulation (Draft Implementing Regulation) and the Notice on Simplified Procedure (Draft Notice) for the EU Merger...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (the Commission) finally published the official final version of the European Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and guidelines (Vertical Guidelines). The new rules will come...more
Introduction - Have you ever searched for a brand’s name online only to find that the first link leads to a competitor’s or reseller’s website? This can be a major problem for direct-to-consumer manufacturers and brands....more
2/2/2022
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European antitrust regulators have shown a continued focus on scrutinizing manufacturers’ engagement with their distributors. The anticompetitive practices that have attracted the highest financial penalties primarily relate...more
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof (BGH)) has recently published on 6 August 2021 the reasoning for its judgment of 18 May 2021 on best-price clauses, which overturned the previous decision of the...more
The European Commission has now published its proposed draft of the new EU rules, which will govern distribution agreements until 2032. These are set to replace the current EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and...more
Introduction - There has been a proliferation of new laws concerning ethical sourcing and due diligence in supply chains in various territories in recent years. This trend is being taken to the next level in the European...more
The announcement from twelve of Europe’s top football clubs of their plan to form a breakaway league (the so-called European 'Super League') sparked an impassioned response from many quarters. One of the threatened sanctions...more
Overview - On 26 March 2021, the European Commission (Commission) published new guidance on the application of the EU upward case referral system (Guidance), pursuant to which EU Member States can ask the Commission to review...more
On 27 January 2021, the French competition authority (Autorité de la concurrence or ADC) adopted a decision accepting commitments from the building block producer Lego France (Lego) to amend its discount policy. The ADC...more
INTRODUCTION - Behaviors such as excessive pricing and refusal to supply are often well understood to create potential issues if the company is dominant. However, under the national laws of some EU member states, such conduct...more
The European Commission (Commission) has launched the impact assessment phase concerning its ongoing revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the accompanying Vertical Guidelines, which set out the rules...more
On 23 June 2020 the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) orally announced its decision in the interim proceedings initiated by Facebook against the prohibition and cessation orders of the German Federal...more
The events of 2020 have caused many brands to re-evaluate whether they are fully utilizing the internet as a tool to reach out to consumers with many enhancing and upgrading their own brand websites. Some brands are now also...more
Two recent developments in the European competition enforcement sphere provide a warning for brands when engaging with their retailers with whom they compete and when using price monitoring tools to monitor the third party...more
Despite the unprecedented efforts and measures undertaken by governments across the world to mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is an unfortunate but inevitable outcome that a number of businesses are...more
It is increasingly common for brands to track the prices of their products online using electronic price monitoring tools. While the practice itself is unlikely to attract antitrust risk, as we have previously reported, in...more
The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting businesses in the European Union (“EU”) in many different ways. Recognizing the scale of the impact, the Commission Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition,...more
Recent years have seen a surge in enforcement activity with national and supra-national antitrust regulators investigating and fining suppliers and manufacturers for the practice of imposing fixed or minimum resale prices and...more