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This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Renfe may have abused its dominant position in the Spanish passenger rail transport market by refusing to supply all its content and real-time data to rival ticketing platforms. Renfe is the Spanish state-owned […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has prolonged the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation (‘MVBER’) for five years, meaning that it will now be applicable until 31 May 2028. It has also updated the Supplementary Guidelines for the sector. The revised Guidelines will help companies in the […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. On 20 March 2023, the European Commission has started unannounced inspections at the premises of a company active in the energy drinks sector in various Member States. The Commission has concerns that the inspected company may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. On 7 March 2023, the European Commission carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of companies and an association active in the fragrance industry in various Member States. In parallel, the Commission has sent out formal requests for information to several companies active in […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission today launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft proposal for Guidelines on how to design sustainability agreements in the field of agriculture (‘Guidelines’) using the novel exclusion from EU competition rules introduced during the recent […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has informed Deutsche Bank and Rabobankof its preliminary view that they breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to distort competition when trading Euro-denominated Sovereign, SSA (Supra-Sovereign, Foreign Sovereign, Sub-Sovereign/Agency), Covered and Government Guaranteed bonds. The Commission has concerns that between 2005 […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has today adopted a revised Informal Guidance Notice that allows businesses to seek informal guidance on the application of EU competition rules to novel or unresolved questions. The revised Informal Guidance Notice provides for more flexible conditions and aims at increasing […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has adopted today its Guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements(‘Guidelines’) regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed people.The Guidelines clarify when certain self-employed people can get together to negotiate collectively better working conditions without breaching EU […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission published today the results of an external market study on the distribution practices of hotels in the EU. The market study was conducted in 2021 and covers the period between 2017 and 2021. It focused on a representative sample of six […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has launched today a call for evidence inviting feedback on the performance of the EU legal framework which exempts liner shipping consortia from EU antitrust rules (Consortia Block Exemption Regulation or ‘CBER’). Today, the Commission has also sent targeted questionnaires to […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission invites comments on commitments offered by Amazon to address competition concerns over its use of non-public marketplace seller data and over a possible bias in granting sellers access to its Buy Box and its Prime programme. The Commission’s investigations Amazon is […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Vifor Pharma has restricted competition by illegally disparaging its closest – and potentially only – competitor in Europe on the market for intravenous iron treatment, Pharmacosmos. Vifor Pharma’s conduct appears to be […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission is conducting unannounced inspections in a Member State at the premises of companies active in the construction of networks and treatment plants for drinking water and wastewater. The Commission has concerns that certain companies may have violated EU antitrust rules that […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether an agreement between Google and Meta (formerly Facebook) for online display advertising services may have breached EU competition rules. Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: ”Many publishers rely […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission invites comments on commitments offered by Insurance Ireland, an association of Irish insurers, to address competition concerns regarding access to its Insurance Link information exchange system. On 14 May 2019, the Commission opened a formal investigation into Insurance Ireland’s conduct. In […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has published today the findings of its competition sector inquiry into the consumer Internet of Things (IoT). The final report and its accompanying staff working document identify potential competition concerns in the rapidly growing markets for IoT related products and services […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has completed its cartel investigation into the Foreign Exchange (‘Forex’) spot trading market by imposing fines on five banks. The Commission has adopted today a decision imposing a total fine of € 261 million on the four banks that decided to […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. On 23 November 2021, the European Commission is conducting unannounced inspections at the premises of a company active in the defence sector. The Commission has concerns that the inspected company may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices (Article […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has launched today a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on the draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and Vertical Guidelines. The draft revised VBER and Vertical Guidelines follow a thorough review process launched in October 2018. This […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found that Daimler, BMW and Volkswagen group (Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche) breached EU antitrust rules by colluding on technical development in the area of nitrogen oxide cleaning. The Commission has imposed a fine of € 875 189 000. Daimler was […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has violated EU competition rules by favouring its own online display advertising technology services in the so called “ad tech” supply chain, to the detriment of competing providers of advertising technology […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The Commission has informed Insurance Ireland, an association of Irish insurers, of its preliminary view that it breached EU antitrust rules by restricting competition in the Irish motor vehicle insurance market. The Commission takes issue with certain conditions of access to the Insurance Link […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has published today the preliminary results of its competition sector inquiry into markets for consumer Internet of Things (IoT) related products and services in the European Union. The Preliminary Report confirms the rapid growth of these markets, but also identifies potential […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has published today the Evaluation Report and Staff Working Document summarising the findings of its evaluation of the Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation. The aim of the evaluation was to gather evidence on the functioning of the rules applicable to vertical […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has found that Bank of America, Natixis, Nomura, RBS (now NatWest), UBS, UniCredit and WestLB (now Portigon) have breached EU antitrust rules through the participation of a group of traders in a cartel in the primary and secondary market for European […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has published today a Staff Working Document that summarises the findings of the evaluation of the two horizontal block exemption regulations on Research & Development and specialisation agreements (“R&D BER” and “Specialisation BER” respectively, together “HBERs”), together with the Horizontal Guidelines. […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has informed Apple of its preliminary view that it distorted competition in the music streaming market as it abused its dominant position for the distribution of music streaming apps through its App Store. The Commission takes issue with the mandatory use […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has fined railway companies Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB), Deutsche Bahn (DB) and Société Nationale des Chemins de fer belges / Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen (SNCB) a total of €48 million for breaching EU antitrust rules. The companies participated in a customer […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether the power exchange EPEX Spot SE (‘EPEX Spot’) has been taking advantage of its dominant position to hinder the activities of competitors on the market for electricity intraday trading facilitation services in at […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess possible abusive behaviour by Public Power Corporation (‘PPC’) in the wholesale Greek electricity sector. Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy said: “We all rely on well-functioning electricity markets. Today we […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has fined Valve, owner of the online PC gaming platform “Steam”, and the five publishers Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax € 7.8 million for breaching EU antitrust rules. Valve and the publishers restricted cross-border sales of certain […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament. The European Commission has published a report on the implementation of the Antitrust Damages Directive which helps citizens and companies claim damages if they are victims of infringements of EU antitrust rules, such as cartels or abuses of dominant market positions. Based on the […]
This article is brought to you in association with the European Commission. The European Commission has informed Conserve Italia Soc. coop. Agricola and its subsidiary Conserves France SA (together referred to as Conserve Italia) of its preliminary view that they have breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to distort competition in the market for canned vegetables […]
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