Industries

On September 29, 2022, the Commission adopted its Guidelines on the application of Union competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed persons (“Guidelines”).[1] The Guidelines represent a part of a bigger push by the Commission to improve working conditions in platform work in the EU.[2]

In a joint statement released on September 16, 2022,[1] TF1 and M6, the two main free-to-air television operators in France, announced their decision to abandon their merger project (the “Transaction”). Despite offering several commitments during an in-depth investigation, TF1 and M6 came to the conclusion that the divestitures required by the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) would too strongly affect the transaction’s rationale. The FCA released on the same day a press release to “take note of the decision to withdraw [the] planned acquisition”[2], in order to publicly clarify its position. 

In a landmark decision announced on September 6, 2022 (“Decision”), the European Commission (“EC”) prohibited the acquisition by Illumina, a U.S. company specialising in genomic sequencing, of GRAIL, a U.S.-based start-up developing early cancer-detection tests (“Transaction”).[1]

On September 14, 2022, the General Court partially annulled the Commission’s 2018 infringement decision which fined Google €4.3 billion for abusing its dominant position by imposing restrictions on Android device manufactures (“OEMs”) and mobile network operators (“MNOs”).[1] The General Court also found that the Commission’s investigation suffered from procedural errors and reduced the fine by €200 million.

On September 13, 2022, the ICA closed an investigation into an alleged abuse of dominance in the domestic market for the management of the recycling of polyethylene (“PE”) goods by the POLIECO consortium (“POLIECO”), the incumbent operator for end-of-life management of PE goods on behalf of producers and users, by accepting and making binding the commitments offered by POLIECO.[1]

On September 6, 2022, the Commission prohibited the acquisition by Illumina, a U.S.-based company specializing in genomic sequencing, of GRAIL, a U.S.-based start-up developing early cancer detection tests based on genomic sequencing.[1] The decision marks the first Commission review and prohibition of a transaction falling below the EU Merger Regulation (“EUMR”) and national notification thresholds.

Appointment of a sustainability expert

As of September 1, 2022, Elise Provost was appointed first formal head of the French Competition Authority’s (the “FCA”) sustainable development network.  Since this network is also responsible for flagging sustainability-related cases to the FCA’s General Rapporteur (i.e., the head of the FCA’s investigation unit), Elise Provost was also appointed adviser to the General Rapporteur as of September 1, 2022.

On August 26, 2022, the Commission published the results of an external market study on the distribution practices of hotels in the EU, with a particular focus on parity clauses.[1] The study was conducted in 2021, after several years of close scrutiny by national competition authorities,[2] as well as the introduction of national legislation restricting the use of such clauses in several Member States.[3]