Nota Bene Episode 135: Europe Q3 Check In: Brexit, Data Protection, and Block Exemption Regulations with Oliver Heinisch
A clear case of horizontal price fixing. Private antitrust plaintiffs are increasingly bringing cases alleging that the use of a common, commercially available pricing algorithm by multiple competitors constitutes price...more
On June 29, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered a preliminary ruling in the Super Bock Bebidas vs. Autoridade da Concorrência case (C-211/22) on the questions referred by the Tribunal da Relaçao...more
Whilst not a sea of difference apart, the two regimes present notable distinctions for companies operating on both sides of the Channel to navigate. Upon its expiry on 31 May 2022, the 2010 Vertical Block Exemption...more
The last week has seen crucial developments at the European Commission (EC) and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the antitrust review of the $7.1 billion proposed acquisition by Illumina (the leading supplier of...more
Join the Hogan Lovells Antitrust and Competition team on Thursday, September 29, 2022 for a discussion on the key recent changes to the vertical agreement block exemptions in both the EU and UK: - Highlighting the key...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission adopted new EU competition rules for vertical distribution agreements that entered into force on 1 June 2022, bringing important amendments to the current rules by partly narrowing the...more
Recent actions by the Saudi Arabia competition authority confirm that the agency is adopting a more aggressive enforcement approach, particularly involving consumer-facing companies. The Saudi Arabian General Authority...more
On 1 June 2022, the European Commission’s revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints entered into force. Adding to our article on the highly controversial issue...more
The European Commission has now published the final text of the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints. The new rules will enter into force on 1 June 2022 and...more
Following an extended review, the European Commission ("Commission") has adopted revised competition law exemptions and guidance applicable to agreements in the vertical supply chain. EU antitrust law prohibits certain...more
On May 10 2022, the EU Commission adopted the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and Vertical Guidelines. The regulation includes several significant new developments including readjusting the safe harbour and providing...more
On 10 May 2022, the European Commission (EC) published the revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER), together with the accompanying revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (Vertical Guidelines), which will replace...more
A few days ago, the Israeli Competition Authority published for public comments draft public statement 1/22, presenting its position on vertical price maintenance arrangements. The final public statement 1/22 will replace the...more
We’re checking in with our Europe-based expert on the latest European updates and upcoming changes for the third quarter of 2021 including updates on Brexit, European Union (EU) data protection policies, block exemption...more
On Sept. 8, 2020, the European Commission published its Staff Working Document summarizing the findings of the evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) applicable to vertical agreements and the VBER’s...more
ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION - The French Competition Authority Imposes a Record Fine of €444 Million on Three Pharma Companies for Collectively Exploiting Their Dominant Position - On 9 September 2020, the French Competition...more
European Commission publishes findings of its evaluation of EU competition rules on vertical agreements - On September 8, the European Commission (EC) published a Staff Working Document summarising the findings of its...more
Within the first week of the confinement measures in Europe, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) was one of the first EU competition authorities to announce a more lenient approach towards certain vertical agreements,...more
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, antitrust/competition law in the EU and UK has focused primarily on competitor cooperation and price increases of certain products, such as face masks, hand sanitizer, paracetamol,...more
In its first resale price maintenance ("RPM") ruling since the passage of its Anti-Monopoly Law, China's highest court held that Chinese antitrust enforcement agencies do not have to prove that RPM has an anticompetitive...more
In a ruling issued on December 18, 2018 but not published until June 24, 2019, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) ruled in favor of the Hainan Provincial Price Bureau in an administrative proceeding regarding a vertical...more