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
1. CONTENTIEUX - NOUVEAU RISQUE DE REMISE EN CAUSE À POSTERIORI D’OPÉRATIONS NON NOTIFIABLES - Par une décision du 2 mai 2024, l’Autorité de la concurrence (ci-après l’ « Autorité ») a fait pour la première fois...more
The European Commission (EC) has published its latest report on competition enforcement in medicines and medical products. Key takeaways are that: EU and Member State authorities imposed multiple material antitrust...more
On 16 March 2023, the ECJ published its judgment in Towercast (C-449/21), confirming that Article 102 TFEU (which prohibits abuses of a dominant market position) may apply to transactions which fall below national and EU...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
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
Par une décision en date du 12 avril 2022, l’Autorité de la concurrence (l’« Autorité ») a sanctionné la Compagnie Financière Européenne de Prises de Participation (la « Cofepp ») à hauteur de 7 millions d’euros, pour avoir...more
Merger control - Infrastructure: For the first time, the French Competition Authority blocked a concentration in the infrastructure sector. The Authority ruled that the acquisition of exclusive control of the Pipeline...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
Summer 2020 was characterized by two significant news items: one in the area of merger control and the other in the area of restrictive practices. ..On 28 August 2020, the French Competition Authority prohibited a merger...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