Cleary Gottlieb

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CMA Activity

In 2019, the CMA devoted considerable resources to preparing for the UK’s exit from the EU. It carried out a consultation and published guidance on the functions of the CMA after a ‘no deal’ exit from the EU. In anticipation of its increased workload, it recruited additional staff at all seniority levels and completed its move to new premises in Canary Wharf. It also increased its focus on digital markets and took a less permissive approach to gun-jumping and failures to provide full responses to formal requests for information.

On December 19, 2019, the FCO published its first report on market power in the electricity generation sector (“Market Power Report”).[1] The report is intended to provide market participants with more legal clarity as to their own position in the market, thereby complementing the recently published FCO/FNA Guidelines on the control of abusive behavior in the electricity generation and wholesale trade sector[2].

On December 27, 2019, the FCO published a summary of its activities in 2019.[1] In 2019, the FCO imposed fines in cartel proceedings totaling approximately €848 million in five cartel proceedings, examined around 1,400 notified mergers, conducted numerous abuse of dominance proceedings (including against Facebook and Amazon), and received 104 applications for review in public procurement cases.

On December 26, 2019, the New Caledonian Competition Authority issued its first decision to impose sanctions, fining four undertakings, two suppliers and two distributors for having established exclusive import rights in the elevator sector (Decision 2019-PAC-05). The Authority issued a total fine of CFP 7.6 million (approx. 63,688 euros) and accepted the binding commitments offered by the four undertakings.

On December 23, 2019, the Council of State upheld the appeals brought by TIM and a number of firms active in the provision of corrective maintenance services for its electronic communications networks (the “Maintenance Firms”)against the judgments of the TAR Lazio that had confirmed the ICA’s decision finding an anticompetitive agreement in the market for the above-mentioned services.[1]

On December 28, 2020, the FCO published its second report on market power for the electricity generation sector (“Market Power Report”)[1] one year earlier than statutorily required, because the FCO considered the imminent phase-out of nuclear and coal energy could affect the position of the market leader RWE.

On December 18, 2019, the FCO prohibited cash handling service provider Loomis AB’s acquisition of its competitor Ziemann Sicherheit Holding GmbH (“Ziemann”).[1] Loomis AB and Ziemann are the third and second-largest cash handling service providers in a number of regional markets in the west and north of Germany behind market leader Prosegur.

On December 18, 2019, the Court of Milan rejected an action for damages brought by Enter S.r.l. (“Enter”) against Telecom Italia S.p.A. (“TIM”) in follow-on litigation for an alleged abuse of dominance in the provision of wholesale access services, which had been established and fined by the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) in 2013.[1]