On the 18th of November, the European Court of Justice delivered its Visma (case C-306/20) ruling, that regardless of some important observations, appears to have largely gone unnoticed by the anti-trust community. Probably, overshadowed by the General Court ruling in Google Shopping a few days prior, but from a practical perspective arguably amounts to a…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: José Rivas, Interview with Ms Cani Fernández, Chairwoman of the Spanish National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) Pablo Ibáñez Colomo, EU Merger Control Between Law and Discretion: When Is an Impediment to…
After deliberating on the matter for a year, DG COMP on the 9th of December published its draft guidance on the application of Article 101 on collective bargaining of the self-employed. This is done in response to the rise and proliferation of the online economy, centred specifically on platforms and greater reliance on freelancers and…
In many jurisdictions, antitrust authorities enforce not only antitrust and competition laws, but also consumer protection rules, which may apply to similar conduct. Not so in the European Union (EU). The European Commission’s (Commission’s) Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) enforces EU antitrust rules alongside Member State authorities, coordinating their activities through the European Competition Network…
Interim measures are back on the Swiss Competition Commission’s radar, especially in dominance cases. The background of this latest development is the authority’s desire to accelerate its proceedings and ensure the efficacy of competition law. However, the most recent cases show that interim measures are not always suitable for this purpose – especially in dynamic…
Background Starting from 2009, the Bulgarian Commission for Protection of Competition (“BCPC”) has conducted several sector inquiries and investigations on the oil market in Bulgaria – a sector giving rise to serious allegations for cartel activities and abuse of dominance. One of the last investigations was held in 2017. The proceedings were initiated as a…
Chinese antitrust is going through what are likely the most important changes since its inception: an amendment of the Anti-Monopoly Law and the establishment of a new enforcement body. Anti-Monopoly Law amendment On 23 October 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress – China’s legislature – published a draft revision of the…
On the 20th of September of 2021, the Egyptian Competition Authority “ECA” and the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority “NTRA” announced signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the main purpose to establish a Joint Executive Committee seeking enhancement of free competition in Egypt’s telecom market. Both agencies branded such a step as a major step forward…
There is a lot of hype about the Spanish FDI regulations introduced by a number of Royal Decrees in 2020: fines of up to the value of the deal, non-controlling acquisition of shares can potentially trigger a filing, etc. And yet, prior to 2020, Spain already had FDI provisions on the books. These pre-2020 FDI…
The European Union (EU) is readying revolutionary new powers for the European Commission (the Commission) to combat distortions of competition resulting from subsidies from non-EU governments. The new regime, laid out in a proposed regulation (the Anti-Subsidy Regulation) published in May 2021, could be in effect as soon as mid-2023. The regulation includes new mandatory notification…
