On 21 February 2025, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) unanimously dismissed Stellantis's claim for €770 million in damages against Autoliv, a leading global manufacturer of automotive occupant safety systems ("OSS"),...more
Our latest edition explores the top merger control trends across the EU, US, UK, Middle East and Australia, and the outlook for 2025.
EU and US merger control enforcement: quo vadis?
In the EU, Executive Vice...more
1/20/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Division ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Competition ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Global Dealmaking ,
Member State ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Technology Sector ,
UK
The Draghi Report proposes substantial reform in the area of competition law, notably offering a critical assessment of recent policies implemented by the European Commission in merger control and antitrust enforcement. The...more
Until now, the European Commission's (EC) antitrust focus on labour-related issues has been timid. This may soon change. The EC has recently published a policy brief on labour markets, explaining that in its view, wage-fixing...more
5/23/2024
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Division ,
Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
International Labor Laws ,
No-Poaching ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
Wage-Fixing
On 7 December 2023, the EC published new guidelines on when farmers and agriculture related businesses can, subject to certain conditions, enter into cooperation agreements on sustainability without breaching EU competition...more
On July 6, 2023, the German Parliament passed the 11th amendment to the German Act Against Restrictions of Competition ("ARC"), substantially expanding the Federal Cartel Office's ("FCO") enforcement powers.
The reform...more
The EU Court of Justice in the CK Telecoms1 ruling has addressed key questions of EU merger control, including the standard of proof for the European Commission to challenge a merger, the assessment of mergers below the...more
The fact that the European Commission (EC) classified resale price maintenance as a hardcore restriction under its Vertical Block Exemption Regulation does not mean that it automatically violates EU competition law as a "by...more
The European Commission ("EC") has published its final revised Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines and adopted new R&D and Specialisation Block Exemption Regulations (HBERs). The EC's aim is to provide more guidance for...more
Advocate General Anthony Michael Collins has proposed that the European Court of Justice uphold the General Court's Altice judgment. In his Opinion, he considered that the entering into certain types of pre-closing covenants...more
5/11/2023
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Belgium ,
Competition ,
EU ,
EUMR ,
European Commission ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Gun-Jumping ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Proportionality ,
Transparency ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
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
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
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 German Bundeskartellamt and the Austrian Bundeswettbewerbsbehörde have updated their joint guidance on the application of their respective transaction value thresholds for mandatory merger notifications (the "Guidelines")...more
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Competition (the “GAC”) has been ramping up its merger control activities and recently—at least initially—blocked its first transaction, signaling plans for more active...more
On 9 July 2021, the European Commission (EC) published for public consultation a draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and draft revised guidelines on vertical restraints (Vertical Guidelines). The EC has...more
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 6 May 2021, the European Commission ("Commission") published a staff working document ("SWD") on its evaluation of the horizontal block exemption regulations on research & development and specialisation agreements...more
On 5 May 2021, the European Commission ("Commission") issued a proposal for a far-reaching Regulation to tackle foreign subsidies, which, if adopted, will increase the regulatory risk for companies operating or investing in...more
5/10/2021
/ Competition ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Subsidies ,
Joint Venture ,
Mergers ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Public Consultations ,
Public Procurement Policies
The European Commission ("EC") is shifting its approach with respect to the referral mechanism under Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation 139/2004 (the "EUMR") and now – at least in certain circumstances – encourages...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
At a time when the European Union and many Member States have just unveiled their hydrogen strategy, the French Competition Authority takes the lead in delivering the very first analysis of the emerging hydrogen sector in a...more
2/12/2021
/ Acquisitions ,
Competition ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
France ,
French Competition Authority ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Merger Controls ,
Mergers ,
Renewable Energy
Yesterday, the 10th amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition (Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen – "GWB") entered into force, and with it the most substantial overhaul of German competition law in a...more
The General Court of the European Union (the "General Court") has confirmed this week that the eligibility rules of the International Skating Union ("ISU"), which penalized athletes participating in competitions not...more
12/28/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Athletes ,
Competition ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Eligibility ,
EU ,
Exclusive Jurisdiction ,
International Arbitration ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Sports ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)