News
Belgian Competition Authority fines kitchen accessories company Le Creuset for resale price maintenance (by Beatrijs Gielen, Carmen Verdonck)
Antitrust issues in vertical relationships are no longer below the competition authorities' ‘radar’. This trend of not only focusing on horizontal but also on vertical competition law infringements has once more been seen with the Belgian Competition Authority’s...
Recent developments in Estonia regarding competition policy and enforcement
Recent developments in Estonia regarding competition policy and enforcement This article provides a brief overview of recent key developments in Estonia regarding competition policy and enforcement. Namely, the status of the transposition of the ECN+ Directive into...
Green screens: Ireland’s new FDI regime set to go live
Green screens: Ireland’s new FDI regime set to go live Overview In October 2023, the Irish Parliament signed into law the Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 (“STCTA”). The new law is set to take effect in the second quarter of 2024 after a Ministerial...
A preliminary reference by the Portuguese Competition Court: (Un)lawful apprehension of emails in antitrust proceedings?
Introduction: This Article aims to provide an overview on the recent preliminary reference initiated by the Portuguese Competition Court within the purview of various legal proceedings pertaining to decisions rendered by the Portuguese Competition Authority (“PCA”),...
Joint bids by bus companies found to be illegal horizontal cooperation in Finland
Introduction In accordance with the well-established main rule, a bidding consortium does not restrict competition if it allows the parties to participate in projects that they would not be able to undertake individually, e.g., due to the size or complexity of the...
Czech NCA fines Austrian furniture retailer for breach of commitments tied to a concentration
Czech NCA fines Austrian furniture retailer for breach of commitments tied to a concentration The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition fined XLCEE-Holding GmbH, an Austrian furniture retailer, CZK 20,324,000 (approx. EUR 824,000) for not fulfilling its...
New powers of the European Commission to control the concentration of undertakings in connection with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on subsidies distorting the internal market
New merger control powers of the European Commission under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation In recent years, the European Union’s legislative bodies have drafted new laws to combat the potential influence of third countries on proper functioning of the internal...
Curia of Hungary put end to debated case-law issue – not meeting administrative deadlines by the competition authority does not prevent undertakings under investigation from being fined
In a recent resolution for the uniformity of law, the Curia - the supreme court of Hungary - confirmed the correctness of the position of the Hungarian Competition Authority (the “GVH”) on authority decisions taken after the administrative deadline of the...
Recent developments in Lithuanian competition policy and enforcement: Gun Jumping, Interim Protection Measures, Online Marketplace Sector Inquiry and more
This article outlines the most important developments in Lithuanian competition policy which have taken place over the course of the summer 2023. Contrary to what may have been expected, Lithuanian Competition Council was very active during the hot summer months and...