Industries

The Paris Court of Appeal (“Court of Appeals”) has issued its ruling on damages in the Plavix follow-on action brought by France’s national health insurance fund (the “CNAM”) against Sanofi.[1] More than a decade after the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) found that Sanofi had engaged in disparagement practices constituting an abuse of dominant position, the Court awarded the CNAM €150.7 million, reflecting the long-term impact of Sanofi’s conduct. The judgment highlights the magnitude of potential damages in follow-on actions and illustrates how French courts evaluate long-lasting effects and the full-compensation principle.

On Friday, the Court in Texas v. Blackrock issued an opinion largely denying defendants’ motion to dismiss, which allows a coalition of States to proceed with claims that BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard conspired to violate the antitrust laws by pressuring publicly traded coal companies to reduce output in connection with the investment firms’ ESG commitments. The Court found that the States plausibly alleged that defendants coordinated with one another, relying on allegations that they joined climate initiatives, made parallel public commitments, engaged with management of the public coal companies, and aligned proxy voting on disclosure issues. It is worth noting that, while the court viewed BlackRock’s, State Street’s, and Vanguard’s participation in Climate Action 100+ and NZAM as increasing the plausibility of the claim in favor of denying the motion to dismiss, the Court clarified that it was not opining that the parties conspired at Climate Action 100+ or NZAM.

On June 11, 2025, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) issued its first-ever decision[1] sanctioning no-poach agreements as stand-alone infringements.[2] Fines totaling EUR 29.5 million were imposed on three companies operating in the engineering, technology consulting, and IT services sectors.  

On June 4, 2025, The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) launched a public consultation on the topic of self-preferencing in the cloud computing sector.  This follows the recent enactment of Law No. 2024-449 on the security and regulation of the digital space (“SREN Law”).  This consultation reflects growing scrutiny of vertically integrated cloud providers that may favor their own services and software at the expense of competitors.

On May 28, 2025, the French Court of Cassation issued a ruling dismissing an appeal from Ambulances Sannac, a French company providing private ambulance services (“Sannac”) against a decision of the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) finding it had entered into anticompetitive agreements in the sector of inter-communal hospital medical transport. The appeal was dismissed entirely due to a procedural oversight[1].