On March 31, 2021, the Commission withdrew its decision which made binding—under Article 9 of Regulation No 1/2003—commitments offered by NBCUniversal, Sony, TWDC, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros and Sky in the cross-border access to pay-TV antitrust proceedings.[1] The withdrawal follows the annulment by the Court of Justice of the Commission’s commitments decision against Paramount and its parent company Viacom[2] (the “Paramount Commitments Decision”), who had offered essentially identical commitments to those offered by the parties in the present case.
ICA Fully Dismisses Allegations of an Abuse of a Dominant Position in the Market for Maintenance of High-tech Diagnostic Imaging Devices
On March 30, 2021, the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) closed an investigation against three equipment manufacturers in the market for maintenance of high-tech diagnostic imaging devices, without finding any abuse of dominant position. The ICA found that the evidence collected during the investigation did not allow to confirm the allegations put forward at the beginning of the investigation.[1]
The Conseil Constitutionnel Holds That Article L. 464-2(5), 2° of the French Commercial Code Is Contrary to the Constitution
On March 26, 2021, the French Conseil constitutionnel ruled that Article L. 464-2(5), 2° of the French Commercial Code, under which the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) may impose a fine of up to 1% of an undertaking’s turnover for obstructing an investigation, was contrary to the French Constitution.[1]
Transforming European Merger Control: The Commission Specifies When It Will Seek To Review Mergers That Are Not Subject to Any Filing Requirements
Essential Facilities Doctrine: No Need To Prove Indispensability for Abuse Through Unfair Access Terms
On March 25, 2021,[1] the Court of Justice ruled that to demonstrate abuse, where a dominant undertaking has already offered access to its infrastructure but on unfair terms, it is not necessary to show that access to the infrastructure is indispensable within the meaning of the Court of Justice’s Bronner essential facilities doctrine.
DCA Refers Facebook Case to the CJEU
On March 24, 2021, the DCA stayed the proceedings regarding Facebook’s appeal against the FCO’s decision of 2019 prohibiting Facebook to combine data from different sources and referred a number of questions to the CJEU.[1] The CJEU is now called upon to consider the relevance infringements of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) under competition law.
Consumer’ Association v Qualcomm Incorporated
On 18 March 2020, the CAT published an application by the UK Consumers’ Association (Which?) to commence collective
CMA publishes new Merger Assessment Guidelines
On 18 March, the CMA published new Merger Assessment Guidelines (the New Guidelines). Under the New Guidelines, the CMA will adopt a more flexible approach to the substantive assessment of mergers, particularly in digital markets. The New Guidelines also suggest the CMA will look to intervene in mergers where market shares are low or where the evidence of anticompetitive effects is slim.
The French Competition Authority Dismisses Interim Measures Request Against Apple
On March 17, 2021, the French Competition Authority (hereinafter, the “FCA”)[1] rejected the request for interim measures of various players in the online advertising industry concerning the introduction by Apple Inc. (“Apple”) of the App Tracking Transparency (“ATT”) feature as part of the upcoming changes in its iOS 14 operating system.
The French Conseil d’Etat Recognizes Right of Employee Representatives to Appeal Against a French Competition Authority’s Merger Clearance Decision
On March 9, 2021, the French Conseil d’Etat ruled that the employee representative body of the target company could appeal the FCA’s decision to clear the transaction. However, the Conseil d’Etat dismissed the appeal on the merits.[1]