Policy & Procedure

On June 4, 2025, The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) launched a public consultation on the topic of self-preferencing in the cloud computing sector.  This follows the recent enactment of Law No. 2024-449 on the security and regulation of the digital space (“SREN Law”).  This consultation reflects growing scrutiny of vertically integrated cloud providers that may favor their own services and software at the expense of competitors.

The French Assemblée Nationale (the “National Assembly”) is currently examining a legislative proposal to increase the French merger control notification thresholds, as part of a broader bill on the simplification of economic life (the “Simplification Bill”).  The draft Simplification Bill, already adopted by the French Senate[1] and reviewed by a special commission within the National Assembly, is being discussed in plenary session under the accelerated legislative procedure. [2]  If adopted, the new merger control thresholds could be implemented by early 2026 and would significantly decrease the number of transactions reviewed by the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”).

The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) imposed a €150 million fine on Apple for abusing its dominant position between 2021 and 2023 as a distributor of mobile applications on iOS and iPadOS devices through the implementation of “artificially complex” requirements relating to privacy protection.[1] 

In two rulings of April 8, 2025, the French Cour de cassation confirmed that dawn raids may lawfully be conducted at employees’ private residences without requiring additional safeguards beyond those set out in the French Commercial Code.[1] 

On January 28, 2025, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice issued a much-awaited preliminary ruling that clarifies when national laws that prohibit the transfer of antitrust compensation claims to bring a collective action breach EU law.[1]  The Court of Justice held that, to respect the principle of effectiveness, national procedural rules cannot limit recourse to such group actions where it is the only procedural way for individuals to bring a claim for compensation.  While it is clear that the Court of Justice did not consider Member States are under an obligation to always allow for group action lawsuits, the implications for private enforcement are yet unclear.  This will likely be the subject of additional litigation and preliminary rulings.

Since the obligations under the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) started to apply to the first wave of gatekeepers in March 2024, there have been a number of important developments on the implementation and enforcement of the DMA by the Commission.[1]  In particular, the Commission has: (i) adopted a second wave of designation decisions concerning Apple and Booking Holdings Inc. (“BHI”), while exempting other services of Apple, ByteDance, X Holdings Corp., and Microsoft; (ii) defended appeals before the European courts concerning a number of its designation and non-designation decisions; (iii) launched whistleblower tools for the DMA and the Digital Services Act (“DSA”); and (iv) opened non-compliance investigations against Meta, Alphabet, and Apple as well as specification proceedings into Apple’s compliance with DMA interoperability obligations.