Industries

On November 12, 2019, the ICA issued a decision finding that Coopservice S.Coop.p.A. (“Coopservice”), Allsystem S.p.A. (“Allsystem”), Istituti di Vigilanza Riuniti S.p.A. (“IVRI”) and its parent companies Skibs S.r.l. (“Skibs”) and Gruppo Biks S.p.A. (“Biks”), Italpol Vigilanza S.r.l. (“Italpol”) and its parent company MC Holding S.r.l. (“MC Holding”), Sicuritalia S.p.A. (“Sicuritalia”) and its parent company Lomafin SGH S.p.A. (“Lomafin”) participated in a cartel affecting the outcome of several open tender procedures for the provision of private security services, launched by contracting authorities located in the regions of Lombardia, Emilia Romagna and Lazio between 2013 and 2017.[1]

On November 11, 2019, the FCO approved the acquisition of Acacia Communications, Inc. (“Acacia”) by Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”).[1] The FCO had asked the merging parties to withdraw their notification to have more time to define the relevant markets but cleared the transaction in phase 1 after the parties had resubmitted their notification one month later.

On November 7, 2019, the General Court dismissed an appeal brought by Campine against an €8.16 million fine imposed by the Commission for its participation in the battery recycling purchasing cartel.[1] Campine sought annulment of the fine, and challenged in particular the 10% increase in the fine that the Commission imposed on account of it being a purchasing cartel.

On November 7, 2019, the Conseil d’Etat upheld the FCA decision imposing a €20 million fine on Fnac Darty for failing to comply with the commitment to divest three stores, pre-condition for clearance in the acquisition of Darty by Fnac in 2016.[1]

On November 6, 2019, the Commission published a public consultation seeking input on the amendment of the Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations (“Horizontal BERs”), which are set to expire on December 31, 2022, and of the Horizontal Guidelines.[1] Interested parties were given until February 12, 2020 to comment on the reform of these important instruments. The consultation is part of a wider Commission evaluation to determine whether the rules should be updated to better reflect the current economy and provide clearer guidance.

On November 6, 2019, the FCO and the French Competition Authority (“ADLC”) presented a joint study on “Algorithms and Competition.”[1] The study focuses on algorithms used for dynamic price setting and their potential effects on competition, particularly in the form of collusion, and contains important insights for companies utilizing third- party algorithms.

On November 3, 2019, the Commission opened a formal investigation of potential anticompetitive coordination between two French supermarket chains, Casino and Intermarché. The Commission suspects that the parties’ 2014 joint purchasing alliance, Intermarché-Casino Achats, might have led to them colluding in certain downstream markets, in particular on the development of shop networks and consumer pricing.[1] The Commission’s decision to open an investigation follows the dawn raids that it carried out in May 2019 in cooperation with the French Competition Authority, as reported in our May EU Competition Law Newsletter.

In November 2019, the Court of Justice issued judgments in four cases arising out of the Commission’s 2014 decision in Power Cables. In the decision, the Commission found several European, Japanese, and Korean high-voltage power cables producers to have engaged in a cartel and imposed fines totaling €302 million.[1] The scope of the infringement included both the power cables and their accessories. Most of the addressees challenged the decision in the General Court, in each case unsuccessfully, and subsequently in the Court of Justice. This month, the Court of Justice rendered judgments on the appeals filed by ABB Ltd and ABB AB (“ABB”), Silec, Brugg Kabel, and LS Cable, partially upholding ABB’s appeal while dismissing the other three appeals.[2]

On October 30, 2019, the Commission published its July 2019 decision to conditionally approve the acquisition by Vodafone of Liberty Global’s cable business in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania, following an in-depth Phase II investigation.[1] The decision marks the first-ever cable access commitment approved by the Commission in the telecommunications sector.