On December 4, 2024, the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) sanctioned two airlines, Air Antilles and Air Caraïbes, and one specialised consultant for having implemented a strategy to increase prices and coordinate offers and conditions in the Caribbean inter-island aviation transport sector (the “Decision”).[1] The FCA imposed total fines of €14.57 million, concluding a five-year old investigation.[2]
On November 28, 2024, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) conditionally cleared the acquisition of 200 former Casino stores by the Intermarché group.[1] The FCA decision is conditional on the divestment of 11 stores to ensure that consumers have access to alternative offerings when purchasing mass-market products.
On May 3, 2024, the French Directorate General for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control[1] (“DGCCRF”) published its 2023 annual report (the “Report”).[2] The Report highlights the DGCCRF’s importance in cartel and other anti-competitive behavior detection in France, as well as its new roles, including taking part in the enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”).[3]
Jérôme Vidal was appointed head of the mergers unit of the French Competition Authority (“FCA”), effective June 17, 2024. Jérôme Vidal succeeds Etienne Chantrel who had held this position since January 2017.
On May 21, 2024, the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) fined 11 companies active in the pre-cast concrete sector for having exchanged commercially sensitive information and implemented anticompetitive price fixing, customer allocation and bid rigging practices over seven to ten years (from 2008 or 2011 to 2017 or 2018 depending on the practices).[1] These practices were uncovered in the context of a criminal investigation carried out under the supervision of a criminal investigating judge (juge d’instruction). Fines ranged from €150,000 to €25.5 million, amounting to a total of approx. €76.6 million.
On December 19, 2023, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) fined Rolex for having prevented its authorized retailers from selling its products online for over ten years (the “Decision”).[1] The FCA considered that such a prohibition constituted a vertical agreement restricting competition, rejecting Rolex’s argument that it was necessary to prevent counterfeiting and parallel trade. The FCA imposed a fine of €91 million, which is the highest fine imposed to date by the FCA in relation to a prohibition of online sales. The FCA also investigated whether Rolex had engaged in resale price maintenance between 2011 and 2022, but ultimately rejected this prong of the complainants’ claim for lack of evidence.
On June 29, 2023, the Court of Justice ruled on questions referred by the Lisbon Court of Appeals relating to alleged resale price maintenance (“RPM”) by Super Bock, a Portuguese beverage manufacturer.[1] The Court of Justice held, inter alia, that a vertical agreement fixing minimum prices is not necessarily a restriction of competition by object despite its characterization as a “hardcore restriction” under the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”)[2] and, in certain circumstances, the existence of an agreement may be inferred from “explicit or tacit acquiescence” by the distributors to an invitation to comply with minimum resale prices.[3]
On July 4, 2023, the Commission conditionally approved, in Phase I, Advent’s acquisition of market research provider GfK through its subsidiary NielsenIQ, after Advent pulled and refiled the merger notification.[1] The approval is subject to the divestment of GfK’s global consumer panel services (“CPS”) business, excluding Russia.[2]
On July 13, 2023, the Court of Justice delivered its much anticipated judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms,[1] setting aside the General Court’s landmark judgment that annulled the Commission’s 2016 prohibition of the proposed 4-to-3 merger between Telefónica Europe Plc (“O2”) and Hutchinson 3G UK Investments Limited (“Three”), the second and fourth largest mobile network operators in the UK, that would have created a new market leader with a combined share above 40%.[2]
On July 12, 2023, the Commission approved Broadcom’s proposed €55 billion acquisition of VMware after a Phase II review ruling out most of its initial concerns.[1] The Commission’s decision is subject to technology access and interoperability remedies.