e-Competitions – Antitrust Case Law -Bulletin January 2017

Anticompetitive practices

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Resale price maintenance – Agreement – Exemption (individual) – Distribution/Retail The Polish Competition Authority fines undertakings for setting minimum resale prices on ski equipments and accessories (Fordex / Intersport)   –  23 December 2016 Marcin Mleczko, Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (Poland)

 

State action defence – Price increase – Anticompetitive object / effect – Services The Italian Competition Authority finds two anti-competitive agreements in the real estate brokerage sector but it does penalize the infringers because the competition breaches were not serious (Usi in Materia di Mediazione Immobiliare)   –  15 December 2016 Michele Giannino, Desogus Law Office (Cagliari)

 

Rights of Defence – Leniency – Agreement – Information technology The EU General Court dismisses the actions of undertakings in a cartel case and and upholds the fines imposed by the Commission (Smart card chips cartel)   –  15 December 2016 Richard Burton, Van Bael & Bellis (Brussels)

 

Settlement – Cartel – Judicial review – Utilities The EU General Court annuls a cartel settlement decision on appeal due to the Commission’s failure to sufficiently inform the undertakings on the fining methodology used (Envelopes cartel)  –  13 December 2016 Richard Burton, Van Bael & Bellis (Brussels)

 

Resale price maintenance – Price fixing – Bid rigging – Healthcare The Chinese NDRC fines a medical device manufacturer for resale price maintenance (Medtronic)   –  5 December 2016 Adrian Emch, Hogan Lovells (Beijing)

 

Unilateral practices

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Abuse of dominance – Dominance – Unfair competition – Online platforms The Paris Commercial Court declares void price and availability parity clauses formerly implemented by a hotel online booking company (Booking.com)   –  29 November 2016 Camille François, DLA Piper (Paris)

 

Abuse of dominance – Dominance – Essential facility – Transports The Lithuanian Competition Council terminates the investigation of an alleged abuse of a dominance in the maritime industry (Vakarų Laivų Gamykla)   –  19 April 2016 Gintarė Surblytė, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Munich)

 

Distribution agreement – Rebates – Discriminatory practices – Energy The Turkish Competition Board concludes that a new turnover rebate system does not constitute an abuse of dominance in the fuel wholesale market (Tüpraş / Ader)   –  13 March 2016 Ceren Özkanlı, Elig (Istanbul) Gönenç Gürkaynak, Elig (Istanbul)

 

Mergers

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Gun jumping – Merger (notion) – Sanctions / Fines / Penalties – Healthcare The Chinese MOFCOM rules that a foreign-to-foreign deal „jumped the gun” in breach of antitrust rules (Canon / Toshiba Medical Systems)   –  16 December 2016 Adrian Emch, Hogan Lovells (Beijing)

 

Effect on competition – Remedies (mergers) – Relevant market – Agriculture/Food products The Polish Competition Authority gives conditional consent to a merger of undertakings operating on the market for wholesale and retail sale of alcoholic beverages (Eurocash / Polska Dystrybucja Alkoholi)   –  14 December 2016 Kamil Klopocki, WKB Wierciński Kwieciński Baehr (Warsaw) Tomasz Feliszewski, WKB Wierciński Kwieciński Baehr (Warsaw)

 

Gun jumping – Notification (mergers) – Sanctions / Fines / Penalties – Telecommunications The French Competition Authority publishes its long awaited first decision sanctioning gun jumping practices (Altice / SFR / Virgin)   –  8 November 2016 Edouard Sarrazin, DLA (Paris) Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi, DLA Piper (Paris)

 

SLC/SRC Test (mergers) – Substantive test (mergers) – Minority shareholdings – Media The Australian Competition Authority publishes draft media merger guidelines   –  26 August 2016 Joshua Wang, University of New South Wales

 

State Aids

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State aid (notion) – Market economy investor – Judicial review – Telecommunications The EU Court of Justice confirms the General Court judgment annulling the Commission’s decision the considered that public support statements and credit line offers constituted incompatible State aids by applying the test of the prudent private investor (Orange)   –  30 November 2016 Markus Wellinger, Van Bael & Bellis (Brussels)

 

Existing State aid – State aid modification – New State aid – Electricity The EU Court of Justice rules on when existing aid becomes new aid (DEI)   –  26 October 2016 Phedon Nicolaides, College of Europe (Bruges)

 

Existing State aid – New State aid – State aid modification – Energy The EU Court of Justice rules that the extension of existing State aid must be considered as the alteration of that aid and is therefore subject to the obligation of prior notification as new aid (DEI / Alouminion tis Ellados)   –  26 October 2016 Miglena Vucheva, Liège University (ULG) Simon Troch, Liège University (ULG)