On 10 March 2020, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in an appeal brought by the CMA against
Commission Accepts Transgaz’s Commitments To Facilitate Natural Gas Exports To Neighboring Member States
On March 6, 2020, the Commission approved commitments presented by Transgaz, the state-owned operator of Romania’s natural gas transmission system, to address alleged restrictions on gas exports from Romania.[1]
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited v Achilles Information Limited
On 5 March 2020, the Court of Appeal dismissed Network Rail’s application to appeal a CAT decision which found that
The Council of State Annuls an ICA Decision Imposing Interim Measures on Taxi Torino in an Investigation Into an Alleged Abuse of Dominance in the Market for the Collection and Sorting of Orders for Taxi Services in the City of Turin
On March 3, 2020, the Council of State granted the appeal filed by Società Cooperativa Taxi Torino (“Taxi Torino”) against the judgment issued by the Regional Administrative Tribunal for Latium (the “TAR Lazio”) on June 7, 2019.[1] The TAR Lazio had upheld the ICA decision of November 29, 2018, which imposed interim measures in an investigation concerning an alleged abuse in the market for the collection and sorting of orders for taxi services in Turin.[2]
Fiber Roll-out and Abuse of Rights: ICA Fines Tim Over €100 Million for Abusing Its Dominant Position in the Wholesale and Retail Markets for BB and Ultra-BB Telecommunications Services in Italy
On February 25, 2020, the Italian Competition Authority (the “ICA”) imposed on Telecom Italia
S.p.A. (“TIM”) a fine of approx. € 116.1 million for abusing the dominant position it held both in the national market for wholesale access services to, and in the national market for retail telecommunications services on, the broadband (“BB”) and ultra-broadband (“UBB”) fixed network, in violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (the “TFEU”).[1]
Tobii AV v Competition and Markets Authority (February 2020)
On 17 February 2020, the CAT refused Tobii’s application to appeal the CAT’s judgment of 10 January 2020, which upheld
The Google Shopping Hearing Before The General Court Of The European Union
In a three-day session culminating on St Valentine’s day, the General Court of the European Union (the “General Court”) heard Google LLC’s (“Google”) and the European Commission’s (the “Commission”) arguments in the Google Shopping case.[1] In 2017, the Commission adopted a decision (the “Decision”) fining Google a record-breaking €2.42 billion for abuse of dominance by positioning and displaying its own comparison shopping service (“CSS”),[2] Google Shopping, more favorably in its general search result pages compared to rival CSSs.[3]
The French Competition Authority Accepts Lego’s Revised Discount Commitments
On January 27, 2020, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) accepted Lego’s commitments, thereby closing a five-year long investigation into the discount policy applied to distributors by the building games manufacturer.[1] Lego committed to redefine the criteria of its discount scheme to allow online distributors to obtain the same level of discount as brick-and-mortar distributors.
FCA Dismissed Abuse of Dominance Allegations Against TDF in Relation to the Acquisition of Itas
On January 16, 2020, the FCA dismissed a complaint by French terrestrial digital television broadcaster towerCast which alleged that its competitor TDF’s acquisition of Itas,[1] constituted an abuse of dominance on the wholesale markets for digital terrestrial television broadcasting services (the “Decision”).
The TAR Lazio Quashes an ICA Decision Concerning an Alleged Abuse of Dominance in the Newspaper Sector
On January 16, 2020, the TAR Lazio[1] accepted the application filed by Società Iniziative Editoriali S.p.A. (hereinafter “SIE”), a company active in the daily newspaper market and publisher of the main daily newspaper in the area of Trento (L’Adige), for annulment of an ICA decision finding SIE to have abused its dominant position on the said market by refusing to license the editorial contents of its newspaper to companies providing daily press reviews in the area of Trento.