On March 23, 2023, the French Cour de cassation ruled that requests to restrict the French Competition Authority’s (“FCA”) communication actions relating to a fining decision qualify as applications for interim relief under Article L.464-8 of the French Commercial Code and therefore can validly be brought before the Paris Court of Appeals.[1]
In 2021, the Commission announced that it would revisit 15-25 merger decisions adopted between 2012 and 2018 to evaluate whether its predictions during the merger control process regarding entry, expansion and imports materialized ex post, with the assistance of an external contractor.[1] In February 2023, the Commission issued a request for information in the context of this study, seeking information about the effects of the acquisition by Aegean Airlines of Olympic Air—one of the rare cases in which the regulator accepted the “failing firm” defense.[2] It has been reported that the Commission has also sent questionnaires regarding Orange/Jazztel,[3] Ryanair/Aer Lingus,[4] Ineos/Solvay.[5] The final report is scheduled for publication later this year.[6]
On February 1, 2023, the Court of Justice held a hearing in Altice’s appeal against the General Court’s decision in 2021 to largely uphold the Commission’s record fine for gun-jumping in the Altice/PT Portugal transaction.[1] Altice’s defense at the hearing hinged on three claims: (i) the Commission wrongly fined Altice twice for failure to notify and for breaching the standstill obligation; (ii) Altice did not acquire veto rights, and therefore control, by signing the Share Purchase Agreement (“SPA”); and (iii) the Commission breached the principle of proportionality by failing to explain its reasoning in setting the fines.
In the latest episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy interviews Sir Philip Lowe, former Director-General of DG COMP.
On March 3,2023, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) published its roadmap for 2023-2024, outlining its enforcement priorities for the year ahead.
On March 1, 2023, the French Cour de Cassation (i.e., the French Civil Supreme Court) upheld the Paris Court of Appeals’ (“Court of Appeals”) judgment awarding Digicel €180 million in damages for harm suffered as a result of anticompetitive practices implemented by Orange from 2000 to 2006 in the mobile telephony sector in the French West Indies and Guyana. However, the Cour de Cassation quashed the Court of Appeals’ finding that interest on the damage award should run from April 1, 2003, given that the harm inflicted to Digicel had not fully materialized at that date.
In our latest episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy interviews Guillaume Loriot, who, following a 20-year career at DG COMP, is now the EC’s Deputy Director-General for Mergers.
On February 15, 2023, the French competition authority (the “FCA”) deemed inadmissible Interflora’s application for review of injunctions imposed in 1986 and 2001 decisions (the “Decision”).
In the latest episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy interviews author, scholar and expert in international
On August 30, 2022, the Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its Annual Report 2021/2022.[1] Andreas Mundt, the President of the FCO, pointed out two areas of the FCO’s focus: First, the collusion of undertakings under the guise of inflation and Russia’s war against Ukraine. Second, to use the flexibility of antitrust law to allow for a degree of cooperation that is necessary in times of crisis. Moreover, the FCO continues to pursue its digital agenda for the digital economy and the protection of consumer rights.