On 16 October 2019, for the first time in many years, the European Commission granted injunctive relief (known as “interim measures”) against a company that is being investigated for infringing European competition law. This is an important development, because it shows that the Commission is testing whether this long-unused tool is fit for purpose in fast moving, dynamic situations (often in tech markets) where there is a perceived need to act more quickly than has been the case to reduce the risk that the behaviour being investigated will cause irreparable harm.
The interim measures decision against Broadcom may presage not only a rebirth of the imposition of interim measures in European antitrust investigations but also a change of tack to European antitrust enforcement, especially with regard to tech regulation.
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