The UK has outlined the details of its new National Security and Investment Bill, heralding the introduction of a new regime for foreign direct investments in the UK. The new regime would introduce, for the first time, a...more
Competition regulators have shown their ability to act quickly and decisively in order to help allay the worst impacts of the coronavirus outbreak. Could these responses provide a template for achieving environmental and...more
9/22/2020
/ Collaboration ,
Competition ,
Competition Authorities ,
Consumers ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Environmental Policies ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Germany ,
Grocery Stores ,
Health Care Providers ,
Netherlands ,
No-Action Letters ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Public Safety ,
Sustainability ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
United Nations
The General Court has upheld a challenge to a 2016 Commission decision that had required Ireland to recover €13.2 billion in illegal State aid from Apple, on account of alleged preferential tax treatment for the...more
7/20/2020
/ Annulment ,
Apple ,
Corporate Taxes ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Illegal State Aid ,
IP License ,
Ireland ,
Multinationals ,
Popular ,
Refunds ,
Reversal ,
State Aid ,
Subsidiaries
The UK government has tabled changes to the Enterprise Act 2002 to expand the circumstances in which the government will be empowered to review foreign takeovers of UK companies. The new rules will allow the government to...more
6/23/2020
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enterprise Act 2002 ,
Foreign Acquisitions ,
Foreign Direct Investment ,
Foreign Investment ,
Goods or Services ,
Merger Controls ,
National Security ,
Public Health Emergency ,
UK
On 2 June 2020, the European Commission published its roadmap on the possible introduction of a ‘new competition tool’ that would allow it to initiate market investigations into perceived structural competition problems, with...more
In anticipation of the wave of requests from stricken companies due to the COVID-19 outbreak for more long-term State support, on 8 May, the Commission extended the scope of its State aid Temporary Framework to allow Member...more
The CMA has published new guidance on its approach to merger assessments during the Coronavirus pandemic, confirming that it does not intend to change either merger control assessments or deadlines, despite the outbreak....more
On 3 April, the Commission adopted an Amendment to extend the Temporary Framework for State aid measures to support the economy in the COVID-19 outbreak adopted on 19 March (covered in our previous alert: European Commission...more
The European Commission has now adopted a Framework of temporary State aid rules enabling Member States to adopt measures to support the growing number of businesses suffering because of the COVID-19 outbreak. This is the...more
3/25/2020
/ Banks ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Response ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Grants ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Distress ,
Interest Rates ,
Member State ,
Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) ,
State Aid ,
State of Emergency ,
Subsidies ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Deferral ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)
As the number of businesses around the EU affected by the COVID-19 outbreak grows, many Member States are considering or have announced substantial supporting packages in an effort to limit the impact of the outbreak on the...more
The European Court of Justice's ruling in Paroxetine, handed down in record time just before Brexit, confirms the narrow interpretation of restrictions by object given in other recent cases. It also clarified certain issues...more
2/19/2020
/ Abuse of Dominance ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Appeals ,
EU ,
European Court of Justice (ECJ) ,
Generic Drugs ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Reverse Payment Settlement Agreements ,
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) ,
UK Brexit ,
UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ,
UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT)