On September 11, 2020, Commissioner Vestager during a speech at a conference[1] for the 30th anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation (“EUMR”),[2] outlined her vision on merger control policy for the upcoming years.[3] In anticipation of the Commission’s long awaited report on its 2016 consultation on the evaluation of procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control, Commissioner Vestager shed some light on the Commission’s position on (i) notification thresholds; (ii) the simplification of merger filing and review processes; and (iii) its reflections on the substance of merger review in certain sectors.

For more than a decade, the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”)[1] and the accompanying Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (“Guidelines”)[2] have been the essential point of reference for the assessment of resale and distribution arrangements[3] under EU antitrust rules. With the VBER set to expire in 2022, the Commission in 2018 launched a review process to determine whether it should let the regulation lapse, prolong, or revise it.[4] After almost two years of evaluation, stakeholder feedback, public consultations and dialogues with national authorities, on September 9, 2020, the Commission published its report summarizing the outcomes of the evaluation.[5] The report provides a detailed overview of the VBER’s shortcomings and points of strength, and paves the way for the possible introduction of a revised regulation within the next two years.

On September 9, 2020, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) fined Novartis, Roche and its subsidiary Genentech €444 million for abusing their collective dominance on the market for AMD treatment. The FCA found that the parties disparaged the off-label use of Roche’s Avastin drug and spread an alarmist discourse before the public authorities in order to preserve the dominant position and high price of Novartis’ Lucentis drug.

On September 2, 2020, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published its Annual Report 2019/2020 (“Annual Report”) which includes an update on the FCO’s activities in the first half of 2020.[1]

On 2 September 2020, the US Department of Justice Antitrust Division (DoJ), the US Federal Trade Commission, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the New Zealand Competition Commission, and the Canadian Competition Bureau signed a framework agreement to improve cooperation in competition investigations.

On 1 September 2020, JD Sports Fashion and Pentland Group Limited filed an appeal against a CMA decision of 29 July 2020 to impose a penalty of £300,000 on the parties for failing to comply with the requirements of the CMA’s initial enforcement order issued in the context of the completed acquisition by JD Sports of Footasylum plc.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant economic disruption, as a consequence of the prolonged and re-occurring shutdowns and the ongoing political and economic uncertainties.

On August 28, 2020, the FCA prohibited for the first time a proposed transaction following an in-depth Phase 2 review.[1] The FCA concluded that Soditroy and the E. Leclerc’s proposed acquisition of joint control over a Géant Casino hypermarket around the city of Troyes raised serious competition concerns.