Policy & Procedure

On 23 July 2021 the CMA published its final report in its market study into the supply of charging for electric vehicles (“EVs”). The study raises concerns that the rollout of charging points has been slow and disjointed, warning that more needs to be done in the sector ahead of the government’s planned ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

In six judgments dated June 30 to July 1, 2021,[1] the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (the “TAR Lazio”) set aside an infringement decision issued by the Italian Competition Authority (“ICA”) against eleven Italian banks[2] and the Italian Banking Association (the “ABI”). The ICA decision concerned an alleged anticompetitive agreement aimed at coordinating business strategies in order to determine the remuneration model for the Sepa Compliant Electronic Database Alignment (“SEDA”) service.[3]

On September 24, 2019, the General Court annulled a €33.6 million fine imposed by the Commission on HSBC for its participation in the Euro Interest Rate Derivatives (“EIRD”) cartel.[1] The General Court upheld the infringement finding, but annulled the fine because the Commission had failed to sufficiently explain its fine calculation methodology, as previously reported.[2]

On June 23, 2021, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its Annual Report 2020/2021[1] as well as its biennial Activity Report 2019/2020. Andreas Mundt, the President of the FCO, pointed out that the FCO’s enforcement activities continue to focus on the digital economy and consumer protection—especially with the help of the FCO’s new enforcement tools created by the recently introduced 10th Amendment of the German Act Against Restraints of Competition (“ARC”)[2]. The reports also provides various enforcement statistics that show that the FCO continues to be a highly active competition law enforcer in the EU.[3]

On 17 June 2021, the CMA published a consultation document on its provisional recommendation to replace the retained EU Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (VABER) with a UK-specific Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (VABEO) (the CMA Consultation). Currently, agreements benefit from automatic exemption from the UK Chapter 1 Prohibition[1] (the equivalent of Article 101 TFEU) if they meet the criteria set out in the VABER.

On June 11, 2021, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) published a draft to update its Notice on fines.[1] The draft is subject to a public consultation which was held between June 11 and 25, 2021. According to the FCA, the update was prompted by the entry into force of ordinance No.2021-649 of May 26, 2021, which implements Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 11, 2018 (“ECN+ Directive”), whose aim is to strengthen and harmonize competition enforcement by national authorities.

On June 8, 2021, the FCO published its draft “Guidelines for the premature deletion of an entry in the Competition Register due to self-cleaning”[1] as well as its draft “Practical guide on filing an application for premature deletion”.[2] In addition, it opened public consultations on the drafts. Interested parties were invited to submit their comments by July 20, 2021.

On 7 June 2021, the CAT ruled on the preliminary issue of whether English or Italian law governs claims made by claimant companies incorporated in Italy (the Italian Claimants). The broader claim relates to an Article 101 TFEU infringement decision concerning default multilateral interchange fees (MIFs) set by Mastercard and Visa.