On March 21, 2019, the Court of Justice issued two orders dismissing Crédit Agricole’s and JPMorgan Chase’s applications for interim measures requested to prevent the Commission from publishing its decision in the EIRD cartel case.[1] The parties had appealed an order issued in October 2018 by the General Court,[2] which rejected the parties’ claims that the Commission should not be allowed to publish its decision on the cartel case while a court appeal against its publication is pending.

On March 20, 2019, the Commission cleared Spirit’s acquisition of Asco, both being active in the supply of aircraft components.[1] The case raised no vertical or horizontal unilateral concerns. However, the Commission imposed remedies to address coordinated effects in the market for slats and slat systems[2] making this the first such case since Hutchison 3G Italy/WIND/JV in 2016.[3]

On March 19, 2019, the General Court annulled the Commission’s decision finding that the voluntary intervention by Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (“FITD”) in support of Banca Tercas (“Tercas”) constituted State aid, granted in violation of Article 108(3) TFEU.[1]

On March 19, 2019, the Commission introduced eLeniency, a new online tool for submitting documents and corporate statements in the…

In a March 18, 2019 paper entitled “EU industrial policy after Siemens/Alstom: Finding a New Balance Between Openness and Protection,” the Commission’s think tank, the European Political Strategy Centre, responds to the “significant backlash against EU competition policy” stemming from its prohibition of the Siemens/Alstom merger in February (reported in the EU Competition Law Newsletter of February 2019).[1]

On March 14, 2019, the ECJ held that the determination of persons liable for damages for an EU competition law infringement is governed by EU law, not national law.[1] The ECJ clarified that an acquirer company may be held liable for private damages caused by a cartel participant even after the cartel participant was subsequently liquidated, provided that the acquirer took over the assets that constituted the business. The ECJ agreed with Advocate General Wahl[2] that the principle of economic continuity should apply not only in public, but also in private antitrust enforcement.

On March 13, 2019, Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission, alleging a breach of Article 102 TFEU. The complaint touches on many of the issues surrounding digital platforms that have been a key focus for the Commission in recent years. In particular, there are parallels with the allegations in Google Shopping, that Google abused its platform dominance in general search to benefit its comparison shopping service.

On 11 March 2019, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”) announced that it had received two applications to bring collective proceedings on behalf of all affected commuters, alleging that three U.K. train operators had engaged in exploitative abuses of dominant positions.[1] This is the first time that claimants have filed applications to commence collective proceedings on a standalone basis (i.e., without the benefit of a prior infringement decision that binds the Courts) since the introduction of the collective action procedure on 1 October 2015.

On March 7, 2019, the Commission accepted the commitments offered by Disney, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Sky in the pay-TV investigation.[1] The Commission’s concerns related to alleged restrictions on the cross- border sale of pay-TV services in film licensing agreements between the studios and Sky UK.[2] Paramount, also part of the investigation, had already offered commitments to address the Commission’s concerns in April 2016, which the Commission accepted in July 2016.[3]