Antitrust and Competition - The French Competition Authority Launches Public Consultation Addressing Below-Threshold Transactions - On 14 January 2025, the French Competition Authority (Autorité de la concurrence, FCA)...more
The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) is committed to an “open door” policy to support companies wishing to pursue projects around sustainable development. Continuing its informal policy since 2020, the FCA has published a...more
In 2022, the French Competition Authority (the "FCA") maintained a high level of activity, focusing notably on digital markets, which remain one of its key priorities. Last year also brought the first successful failing firm...more
UNIQUE GUN-JUMPING CASE SANCTIONED BY FRENCH COMPETITION AUTHORITY - A new European gun-jumping decision, following the European Court of Justice 2022 Marine Harvest judgment, sends a very strong message to companies that...more
The EU General Court (“General Court”) has confirmed that the European Commission (“Commission”) can examine deals that do not trigger merger control thresholds in the EU or any EEA Member State[1] following a referral...more
In a decision dated March 9, 2022 (No. 19/19747), the Paris Court of Appeal ruled on a competition damage claim action for abuse of dominant position brought against Schneider Electric France and Schneider Electric SA by a...more
The French Competition Authority ("FCA") fines a company for gun-jumping in a case relating to a progressive takeover and de facto control - On 12 April 2022, the FCA fined the Compagnie Financière Européenne de Prises de...more
Order No. 2021-649 of May 26, 2021 (the "Order") finalizes the transposition into French law of the European Directive so-called "ECN +" of December 11, 2018, which aims to strengthen the powers of national competition...more
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
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
This Newsletter of the Competition and Distribution team of BCLP's Paris office features some of the key developments of the last quarter. In this newsletter: ..To enable national authorities to better apprehend killer...more
Does the EU’s Qualcomm fine represent efficient justice? As widely reported, on 24 January 2018, the EU Commission fined Qualcomm €997m for abusing its dominant position in LTE baseband chipsets....more
The question of how "big data" should be treated in merger control and antitrust enforcement was a key issue for the European Commission and national regulators in European Union member states in 2016, with competition...more
European Union: EU Commission maintains close scrutiny of retail geo-blocking - On the 18th of March 2016, the EU Commission published initial findings from its e-commerce sector inquiry. The initial findings show a...more
In May 2015, the European Commission launched a two-year, industry-wide inquiry into the e-commerce sector to gather data on the functioning of e-commerce markets, so as to identify possible competition concerns. This sector...more