On April 17, 2024, the former Italian Prime Minister, Enrico Letta, published a report outlining the future of the EU’s single market (the “Report”).[1] Letta proposed significant reforms, including the addition of a fifth freedom to spur innovation, consolidation in key sectors to enhance global competitiveness, and a new framework for State aid governance.
In the latest installment of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Maria Jaspers, who heads
On April 2, 2024, the European Commission published, in full, its May 2023 decision unconditionally approving the acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat[1] (the “Transaction”), following an in-depth Phase II investigation. The UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) had also unconditionally cleared the acquisition on May 9, 2023.[2] The Transaction was approved in the context of a trend toward broader consolidation in an increasingly challenged European satellite operations market, with SES announcing its intention to acquire Intelsat just a week before the Commission published its Viasat decision.[3]
On 8 March, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) handed down a third judgment in two years in
On March 4, 2024, the Commission fined Apple €1.8 billion—its first ever antitrust fine imposed on Apple and third largest ever—for abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users (“iOS users”) through its App Store (“Decision”).[1]
On February 13, 2024, the European Commission approved the acquisition of Asiana Airlines by Korean Air Lines (“Korean Air”),[1] following an in-depth Phase II probe and extensive remedy discussions.
On 1 February 2024, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) published a report on a 2023 stocktaking of direct financial services offered by BigTechs[1] in the EU (the Report).
The Report highlights certain characteristics of BigTech firms, in particular various types of inter-dependencies between BigTechs’ non-financial and financial services offerings, and identifies opportunities and risks flowing from these inter-dependencies. It also records national competent authorities’ supervisory and regulatory observations as well as some initial suggestions how these could be addressed. Lastly, it states that, as a next step, the ESAs will establish a “multi-faceted data matrix” to enhance their monitoring of BigTech firms.
On February 9, 2024, the General Court[1] dismissed an application from ByteDance Ltd (“ByteDance”), the parent company of social media platform TikTok, to suspend the Commission decision[2] designating ByteDance as a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”).[3] ByteDance had argued that compliance with the restrictions on combining data between services (Article 5(2) DMA) and the obligation to provide the Commission with an “independently audited description” of TikTok’s profiling techniques (Article 15 DMA), would lead to serious and irreparable harm.[4] The General Court found that ByteDance had failed to establish such harm to the requisite standard. While the General Court order offers little insight into the substantive debate on the scope of the DMA, it showcases the hurdles gatekeepers have to overcome to seek interim relief from the DMA before the European Courts.
In the latest instalment of the Cleary Gottlieb Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy is joined by Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the Competition & Markets Authority. Their conversation covers a range of topics, including her first year in the role, merger control, Microsoft/Activision, cartel enforcement, judicial review, international coordination, sustainability, and her plans for the future.
In the latest episode of Cleary Gottlieb’s Antitrust Review podcast, host Nick Levy interviews members of Cleary Gottlieb’s award-winning antitrust practice about the principal developments in 2023 and their predictions for antitrust enforcement in 2024.