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.
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 August 23, 2022, the Commission published its full decision in Video Games, fining Valve (the owner of the online PC gaming platform Steam) and five PC video game publishers (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media, and ZeniMax) a total of €7.8 million for restricting cross-border sales of PC video games.[1] The Commission found that the agreement between Valve and the video game publishers, which prevented gamers from activating certain PC videogames purchased in eight Member States where prices are generally lower than in other Member States (so-called “geo-blocking”), breached Article 101 TFEU.
In the second episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, a panel of Cleary Gottlieb partners discuss the achievements to
On August 5, 2022, the Italian Parliament adopted Law No. 118, the “2021 Annual Competition Law” (the “ACL”). The ACL, which will enter into force on August 27, 2022, amends the Italian Competition Law (Law No. 287/90) in various respects.
The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on 8 August 2022 set aside a £17.9 million fine against price comparison website Compare The Market, criticising the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) legal and evidential assessment of the case. The CAT found that the CMA’s “anecdotal evidence”[1] failed to prove that Compare The Market kept home insurance premiums artificially high by using most favoured nation clauses (MFNs) in its contracts with insurance providers. The CMA has said it is disappointed with the CAT’s ruling and is considering its options, including a potential appeal.
Cleary Gottlieb partners Nicholas Levy, Paul Gilbert, and Jackie Holland and associate Courtney Olden co-authored the “UK” chapter of the
On 26 July the CMA published an Update Paper in its music and streaming market study (launched 27 January).[1] The Update Paper sets out the CMA’s preliminary findings halfway through its study into how well competition works in music streaming.