On March 13, 2020, the Council of State rejected the appeal lodged by Aspen Pharma Trading Ltd., Aspen Italia s.r.l., Aspen Pharma Ireland Ltd., and Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. (together “Aspen”) against the judgment issued by the TAR Lazio on July 26, 2017,[1] which upheld the 2016 ICA decision to fine Aspen in an amount in excess of € 5 million for charging excessive prices in violation of Article 102(a) TFEU.[2]
The Court of Justice Confirms the Commission’s Broad Margin of Appraisal in Rejecting Complaints
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On March 12, 2020, the General Court confirmed the Commission’s decision to reject a complaint brought by LL-Carpenter (“Carpenter”), a Czech distributor of motor vehicles, against Subaru for alleged anti-competitive conduct. The judgment serves as a reminder of the Commission’s wide discretion to evaluate and reject complaints.
Flynn Pharma Limited and Others v Competition Markets Authority
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On 10 March 2020, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in an appeal brought by the CMA against…
Higgins v Barclays, Evans v Barclay (FX Cartels)
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On 6 March 2020, the CAT handed down its judgment in an application for a preliminary hearing on a timing…
Commission Conditionally Approves Joint Venture Between Telecom Italia and Vodafone to Share Telecoms Towers
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On March 6, 2020, the Commission approved Telecom Italia and Vodafone’s acquisition of joint control over INWIT, which will combine the companies’ 22,000 telecommunication towers in Italy.[1] The approval was obtained during Phase I and is conditioned on third-party access to the infrastructure.
Commission Accepts Transgaz’s Commitments To Facilitate Natural Gas Exports To Neighboring Member States
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On March 6, 2020, the Commission approved commitments presented by Transgaz, the state-owned operator of Romania’s natural gas transmission system, to address alleged restrictions on gas exports from Romania.[1]
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited v Achilles Information Limited
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On 5 March 2020, the Court of Appeal dismissed Network Rail’s application to appeal a CAT decision which found that…
The TAR Lazio Quashes the ICA Decision Imposing Commitments on Sky After Its Withdrawal of the Notification of the R2 Acquisition
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On March 5, 2020, the TAR Lazio annulled the ICA decision of May 20, 2019, concerning the acquisition of sole control of R2 S.r.l. (“R2”) by Sky Italia S.r.l. (“Sky”), including the measures imposed on Sky.[1]
Iiyama (UK) Limited and Others V Samsung Electronics Co. Limited and Others (LCD Cartels)
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On 4 March 2020, the CAT ordered that the damages claim brought by Iiyama against Samsung in relation to the…
Court of Justice Upholds Commission’s Two Fines Against Marine Harvest for Gun-jumping
By Cleary Gottlieb on
On March 4, 2020, the Court of Justice dismissed Mowi ASA (formerly Marine Harvest ASA)’s appeal against two fines for having acquired control over salmon producer Morpol prior to the European Commission’s (the “Commission”) merger control approval.[1] The judgment clarifies the scope of Article 7(2) of the EU Merger Regulation (the “EUMR”), which allows an acquisition of control to be notified after the fact, if it takes place in the context of a public bid. The judgment explains that the exemption does not apply if the public bid follows an initial, separate, transaction which already gave rise to an acquisition of control. The judgment also confirms that the Commission is allowed to impose two separate fines when a transaction is implemented before the merger notification. This article updates our analysis of the General Court judgment as reported in our European Competition Report of Q 4, 2017.