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On October 23, 2020,[1] the TAR Lazio rejected the appeals filed by Ecosumma S.r.l., Bifolco & Co. S.r.l., Ecologica Sud S.r.l., Langella Mario S.r.l.  (the “Companies”) and Green Light Servizi Ambientali S.r.l. (“Green Light”) against a decision issued by the ICA in 2019, finding that the Companies had coordinated their bidding behavior in a tender for medical waste management in the Campania Region, with the assistance of  the third-party consulting firm Green Light.

On October 15, 2020, Advocate General Pitruzzella advised the Court of Justice to overturn the General Court’s annulment of the Commission’s decision that had found that preferential corporate tax rates enjoyed by FC Barcelona and other clubs amounted to unlawful and incompatible State aid.[1] The Advocate General disagrees with the General Court’s conclusion that the Commission failed to show to the requisite legal standard the existence of an advantage in favor of FC Barcelona and proposes to set aside the judgment under appeal on this basis.

On 15 October 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) revoked a £300,000 penalty it had imposed on JD Sports Fashion plc for breach of an interim enforcement order (IEO) issued in connection with JD Sports’ completed acquisition of Footasylum plc. The penalty was withdrawn “[i]n light of issues raised on appeal.” This is the first time that a CMA procedural fine has been revoked or overturned on appeal. On 19 and 20 October 2020, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) heard Facebook’s appeal against the CMA’s refusal to grant a derogation from an IEO issued in connection with Facebook’s completed acquisition of GIPHY, Inc. This article considers potential implications of these cases for future UK mergers.

On October 8, 2020,[1] the Paris Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal brought by Google against an interim measures decision issued by the FCA on April 9, 2020 in favor of publishers unions Syndicats des éditeurs de la presse magazine and Alliance de la presse d’information générale, and news agency Agence France Presse.[2] It thereby approved the FCA’s third interim order against the tech giant in a decade. Pending the FCA’s decision on the merits, the Court of Appeals’ order addresses Google’s refusal to engage in negotiations with news publishers and agencies to determine an adequate remuneration for the exploitation of their copyright-related rights.

Following various investigations in the retail sector,[1] the FCA opened another investigation to assess the joint purchasing agreement concluded in August 2018 between Carrefour and Tesco.[2] In this context, in October 2020, the FCA received commitment proposals from the two distributors, redefining the scope of their cooperation on private labels.

On October 8, 2020, Advocate General Hogan delivered his opinion to the Court of Justice in which he argued the General Court had breached the principle of equal treatment in recalculating the fine imposed in 2014 by the Commission on Italian steel abrasives producer Pometon SpA (“Pometon”). Pometon was fined for participating in an alleged cartel by engaging in price coordination.[1] The Advocate General recommended that the Court of Justice should reduce the fine from €3.9 to €2.6 million.

On October 7, 2020 the Commission accepted commitments offered by Broadcom to address concerns relating to the sale of chipsets used in TV set-top boxes (“STBs”) and in internet modems.[1] This marks the end of a case that unusually combined the use of interim measures and the commitments procedure.[2] The Commission may view this case as a blueprint to achieving expedited resolutions of antitrust investigations in technology markets and beyond.

On October 7, 2020, the Frankfurt am Main Court of Appeals found the top-tier sports association for beach volleyball (Deutscher Volleyball-Verband, “DVV”) liable for abusing its dominant position by discriminating the plaintiffs, two female professional volleyball players.[1] The plaintiffs were awarded USD 17,000 in damages reflecting the prize money the plaintiffs missed out on during that period of time.