European Competition Review 2022 | January 2023

Overview


In our super-connected age, we are inundated with information. It can be difficult to select what is really relevant to one’s business.

The purpose of this Review is to provide legal counsel and their teams easy reference guidance on essential EU competition law developments covering key areas of law and policy, to help keep you up to date on the latest requirements.

Inside you’ll find:

Cartels & Restrictive Agreements
Cartels were firmly in the authorities’ crosshairs in 2022. Excess pricing in the automotive industry, the exchange of sensitive information in the computing industry and coordinated pricing in aviation were all major focus points and led to some interesting decisions.

Abuse of Dominant Position
Questions before the courts included the scope of B2B customer rebate schemes and how close incentives come to having anti-competitive effect.

Merger Control
Gun-jumping remains a real focus for the European courts. Companies should also be acutely aware of developments surrounding notification thresholds.

State Aid
Article 107 (1) TFEU contains a general prohibition on State aid. But there are exceptions. Over the course of 2022 a number of judgments helped to shed some light on when State aid is permissible.

Legislative and Policy Developments
The European Commission found itself under scrutiny, both in terms of the procedure for payment of fines and in terms of decisions on anticompetitive practices. Companies should carefully consider how upcoming developments on the digital market, and the new Foreign Subsidies Regulation may affect their business. Vertical agreements, and the entry into force of the new VBER, are also hot topics.

Overview



Cartels & Restrictive Agreements

Articles


  • Preliminary Ruling of the CJEU in Case C-588/20, Daimler (Refuse trucks). Read here.
  • Optical Disk Drive Cartel, ODDs (CJEU C-697/19 P – C-700/19 P) Read here.
  • The GCEU Reduces Fines for Several Undertakings Involved in the Air Freight Cartel but Upholds Fines in the Majority of the Cases. Read here.

Abuse of Dominant Position

Articles


  • Summary of Decision T-286/09 RENV Intel Corporation v Commission. Read here.
  • GCEU Annuls Commission Decision Fining Qualcomm Inc. for Alleged Abuse of a Dominant Position on the LTE Chipsets Market. Read here.

Merger Control

Articles


  • GCEU Dismisses Challenge to EC Decision Applying Article 22 EUMR to a Transaction that did not have a Community Dimension and was not Notifiable in any Member State. Read here.
  • The GCEU Upholds the EC’s EUR28 Million Fine Imposed on Canon for Gun-Jumping. Read here.

State Aid

Articles


  • Several Judgments Illustrating What Constitutes State Aid. Read here.

Legislative & Policy Developments

Articles


  • CGEU Issues Two Judgments on the EC’s Non-Contractual Liability for Wrongful Competition Decisions. Read here.
  • The GCEU Annuls Two EC Decisions Rejecting Complaints about Anticompetitive Practices, T-399/19, Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe I Gazownictwo v European Commission, February 2, 2022 & T-791/19, Sped-Pro v European Commission, February 9, 2022. Read here.
  • CJEU Rulings on the Right to Intervene in Cases Before the EU Courts. Read here.
  • The Digital Markets Act. Read here.
  • EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation. Read here.
  • New EU Rules for Vertical Agreements: The New Vertical Block Exemption Regulation. Read here.