As part of our response to the European Commission’s consultation on possible reforms to its merger control guidelines,[1] we submitted our observations on Topic Paper G – Public Policy, Security, and Labour Market Considerations.
On October 1, 2025, the General Court dismissed Laudamotion’s application for annulment of the European Commission’s (“Commission”) decision rejecting a complaint that Lufthansa’s concurrent acquisition of flight slots previously held by Air Berlin and conclusion of a wet lease agreement for 40 Air Berlin aircrafts constituted an anticompetitive concertation in breach of Article 101 TFEU.[1] The General Court reconfirmed that to sustain an infringement finding, there can be no alternative plausible explanation for the alleged anticompetitive concertation.
On December 21, 2023, the Grand Chamber of the CJEU delivered a judgment on the interplay between public procurement rules and competition law.[1] The judgment replies to questions raised on a preliminary reference by the Portuguese Supreme Administrative Court on the interpretation of Article 57(4) of the Public Procurement Directive (“PPD”),[2] which states that tendering authorities may exclude from participation in a procurement procedure any economic operator involved in anticompetitive behaviour. The judgment provides the following clarifications:
In a move intended to put an end to the Commission’s recent investigation into mobile payment restrictions on iOS, Apple offered third-party developers access to the tap-and-go system (i.e., Near-Field Communication or “NFC”) on its devices.[1]
On December 7, 2023, the Commission imposed a fine of almost €48 million on Lantmännen ek för, the largest producer of ethanol in the Nordic region, for participating in a 1.5-year cartel manipulating the wholesale price of ethanol in the EEA.[1]
