Cleary Gottlieb

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On June 4, 2020,[1] the Council of State overturned TAR Lazio judgments that had upheld the appeals submitted by three radio taxi companies against an infringement decision issued by the ICA, regarding an alleged parallel network of anticompetitive vertical agreements between radio taxi companies and drivers active in Milan (the “Decision”).[2]

On June 2, 2020, the Commission published two inception impact assessments[1] and two public consultations which address two new policy initiatives: (1) a new market investigation tool (“new competition tool”);[2] and (2) a regulatory instrument that would ex ante govern large online platforms that act as gatekeepers with significant network effects in the European Union’s internal market.[3]

On June 2, 2020, the Commission published two inception impact assessments[1] and two public consultations which address two new policy initiatives: (1) a new market investigation tool (“new competition tool”);[2] and (2) a regulatory instrument that would ex ante govern large online platforms that act as gatekeepers with significant network effects in the European Union’s internal market.[3] These initiatives are part of the Commission’s wider efforts to modernize EU competition law in an era of digitalization. Stakeholders are invited to submit their comments up until September 8, 2020[4] and the impact assessments are expected to be submitted to the Regulatory Scrutiny Board of the Commission and be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2020.

On 13 November 2020, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) partially upheld JD Sports’ appeal against the CMA’s decision to prohibit its completed acquisition of Footasylum requiring it to fully divest Footasylum.[1] The CMA found that the parties were close competitors in sports-inspired casual clothing and footwear in stores and online. The CMA concluded there was no evidence that the impact of COVID-19 would remove its competition concerns.

On May 28, 2020 the General Court overturned Commissioner Vestager’s first prohibition decision, blocking a 4-to-3 merger in the UK…

The Commission’s Notice on remedies states that waivers “will very rarely be relevant for divestiture commitments” and since divestiture commitments are required to be implemented in a short time after the decision, it is “very unlikely” that sufficient changes in market circumstances will have occurred for the Commission to accept any modifications of the commitments.[1] In May 2020, the Commission waived commitments given to secure merger control approval in two cases.

On May 27, 2020, the ICA opened an investigation pursuant to Article 102 TFEU into the conduct of Italgas Reti S.p.A. (“Italgas”), a fully-owned subsidiary of Italgas S.p.A.[1] The supply of gas distribution services in Italy is organized by areas comprising small groups of municipalities, called ‘minimum territorial areas’ (“ATEM”s).[2] In the ICA’s view, Italgas abused the dominant position it holds in the Venice ATEM market, comprising eight municipalities, in which it is currently the exclusive licensee of the gas distribution services in four municipalities (including Venice).

Following the Commission’s roadmap and launch of the public consultation process,[1] on May 26, 2020, the Commission published the final report[2] with support studies for the evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (the “VBER”).[3] The report is part of the Commission’s evaluation of the VBER, which is set to expire on May 31, 2022.