On September 24, 2019, the General Court ruled on the appeals against two of the Commission’s decisions ordering recovery of illegal state aid in back taxes that the Netherlands and Luxembourg allegedly provided to Starbucks Manufacturing EMEA BV (“Starbucks”) and Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe (“Fiat”) respectively.[1]
French Competition Authority Launches Consultation on Revised Merger Guidelines
On September 16, 2019, the French competition authority (“FCA”) launched a two-month public consultation on revised merger guidelines (“the draft guidelines”), which constitutes the final step of the modernization and simplification of merger control the FCA had initiated in the fall of 2017. This overhaul of the FCA’s merger control guidelines aims to extend the scope of the simplified procedure, update the 2013 guidelines with recent case law and the FCA’s exchanges with the European Commission and other national competition authorities, while reorganizing the guidelines and enriching them with examples. The public consultation was open until November 16, 2019. The new guidelines are scheduled to be adopted before the end of the year.
Vigorous Antitrust Enforcement Likely To Continue During Margrethe Vestager’s Second Term as Competition Commissioner
Margrethe Vestager has been re-appointed as Commissioner for Competition for a second term. If her appointment is approved by the European Parliament, as is expected, she would be in line for a combined 10-year term, which would make her the longest-serving Competition Commissioner. In addition to the competition portfolio, Ms. Vestager will also take on responsibility for the “a Europe fit for the digital age” agenda, and has been designated as one of the executive vice-presidents of the Commission.
Roadmap For The Evaluation Of The Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations Open For Comments
ICA Issues Symbolic Fine in Railway Operator Abuse Case
On July 31, 2019, the ICA issued a decision stating that Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (“FS”), Rete Ferroviaria Italiana S.p.A. (“RFI”) and Trenitalia S.p.A. (“Trenitalia”) had abused their dominant position in the markets for rail infrastructure management and regional rail passenger transportation services in Veneto (the “Decision”).[1] However, the ICA imposed on the firms concerned a symbolic fine of only €1,000, taking into account the fact that the contested practices would ultimately lead to improvements and innovation in the railway infrastructure.
The Court of Justice in Tibor-trans Expands Forum Options for Cartels Damages Claimants
On July 29, 2019, the Court of Justice confirmed that the Hungarian courts had jurisdiction to rule on damages claims brought by Tibor-Trans Fuvarozó és Kereskedelmi Kft. (“Tibor-Trans”), a Hungarian logistics company, against DAF Trucks N.V. (“DAF”), one of the members of the EU-wide trucks cartel.[1] The Court of Justice clarified that cartel victims may claim damages in any Member State affected by a cartel, even where they had no direct contractual relationship with the cartelists.
Commission Publishes 2018 Annual Activity Report
On July 15, 2019, the Commission published its annual report on competition policy, setting out the Commission’s main policy and legislative initiatives, and key decisions adopted in 2018.
The FCA Publishes Its 2018 Annual Report
The FCA published its 2018 annual report, which, this year, also provides an overview of the FCA’s policy and results over the last decade (see our article published in the April newsletter[1]).
European Champions Debate Continues
On July 4, 2019, France and Germany, joined by Poland, issued a joint call to modernize European competition rules (“Joint Statement”).[1] This follows the publication in February 2019 of a Franco-German Manifesto for a European industrial policy to foster the creation of European champions.[2] The Joint Statement scales back some of the Manifesto’s far-reaching ideas.
New Guidelines on “Passing-on” of Overcharge and Disclosure of Confidential Information in Cartels Damages Claims
On July 1, 2019, following a one-year public consultation with national courts and other stakeholders, the Commission published new guidelines to assist national judges in estimating the “passing-on” of overcharge in cartel damages claims.[1] The guidelines are the latest step in efforts to develop a forum for antitrust damages litigation throughout Europe, given that these actions are, at present, typically confined to a small number of national jurisdictions (the U.K., the Netherlands, and Germany).