Abuse

On 4 June 2021 the CAT published an application to commence collective proceedings under section 47B of the Competition Act 1998 against Apple Inc. and Apple Distribution International Ltd (Apple). The application alleges that Apple has abused a dominant position in breach of Article 102 of the TFEU and the Chapter II prohibition of the Competition Act.

On June 3, 2021, the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) launched a public consultation to assess the adequacy of the commitments (the “Commitments”) offered by Facebook Inc., Facebook Ireland Ltd, and Facebook France (together, “Facebook”) as part of the FCA’s investigation into allegedly abusive online advertising practices by Facebook.

On May 17, 2021, the Regional Administrative Tribunal of Lazio (“TAR Lazio”) rejected the application for annulment lodged by SAD – Trasporto Locale S.p.A. (“SAD”), a company entrusted by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (“APB”) with the provision of road passenger transport services in the Bolzano area,[1] against the 2019 decision by which the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) fined SAD for abuse of dominance under Article 102 TFEU.[2]

In an order dated May 12, 2021, the Paris Court of Appeals ruled that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on Roche’s request for injunctive relief against the French Competition Authority (“FCA”), who had shared videos related to the case on social media and sent a letter to a pharmaceutical trade association in the aftermath of the publication of its prohibition  decision.[1].

On 10 May 2021, the CAT issued a supplementary judgment in the appeals against a decision of the CMA of 12 February 2016. This followed the CAT’s previous judgment of 8 March 2018, by which certain questions were referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU issued its ruling on these questions on 30 January 2020.

On April 27, 2021, the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) imposed a fine of €102 million on Alphabet Inc., Google LLC and Google Italy S.r.l. (together, “Google”) for an alleged refusal to allow an electric vehicle (“EV”) charging app developed by Enel X (named “JuicePass”) to be published on Google’s Android Auto platform.[1]

On April 27, 2021, the ICA imposed a fine on Società Cooperativa Taxi Torino, a cooperative of taxi operators (hereinafter “Taxi Torino”), for abusing its dominant position in the market for the collection and sorting of taxi orders in the municipality of Turin (the “Decision”).[1] In particular, following a complaint submitted by a company that manages a mobile app connecting taxi drivers and consumers (Mytaxi Italia S.r.l.; “Mytaxi”), the ICA’s investigation focused on some clauses in Taxi Torino’s by-laws, which imposed a non-compete obligation on taxi drivers participating in Taxi Torino’s network and had the effect of foreclosing the market, also in light of Taxi Torino’s dominant position and the lack of actual competition.