Following a public consultation launched in July 2019,[1] the Commission adopted a guidance document[2] on the protection of confidential information in proceedings for the private enforcement of EU competition law based on the Antitrust Damages Directive (“ADD”).[3] The Confidentiality Guidance is intended for use by national courts to ensure consistency across Member States regarding access to and the protection of confidential information disclosed in private enforcement proceedings. The Communication is not binding and does not modify the rules applicable in different Member States, but rather outlines a number of measures and tools national courts may employ to help protect confidential information.

On September 16, 2019, the French competition authority (“FCA”) launched a two-month public consultation on revised merger guidelines (“the draft guidelines”), which constitutes the final step of the modernization and simplification of merger control the FCA had initiated in the fall of 2017. This overhaul of the FCA’s merger control guidelines aims to extend the scope of the simplified procedure, update the 2013 guidelines with recent case law and the FCA’s exchanges with the European Commission and other national competition authorities, while reorganizing the guidelines and enriching them with examples. The public consultation was open until November 16, 2019. The new guidelines are scheduled to be adopted before the end of the year.

On September 16, 2019, the TAR Lazio rejected the application for annulment filed by MP Silva S.r.l. (“MP Silva”) against an ICA decision that had denied the applicant access to the file in an Article 101 TFEU investigation.[1]

Margrethe Vestager has been re-appointed as Commissioner for Competition for a second term. If her appointment is approved by the European Parliament, as is expected, she would be in line for a combined 10-year term, which would make her the longest-serving Competition Commissioner. In addition to the competition portfolio, Ms. Vestager will also take on responsibility for the “a Europe fit for the digital age” agenda, and has been designated as one of the executive vice-presidents of the Commission.

As of September 5, 2019, the Commission is inviting comments on the roadmap for the evaluation of the horizontal block exemption regulations on research and development agreements[1] and specialization agreements[2] (the “Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations”).

On September 2, 2019, the Paris Commercial Court sanctioned Amazon for having imposed unfair conditions on businesses selling on its platform. Amazon received a record fine of €4 million and was ordered to remove or modify the contentious clauses from its contracts and terms of use within six months, failing which it will incur a periodic penalty of €10,000 for each day’s delay.

The TAR Lazio[1] upheld an ICA decision that rejected the request by B.M. S.r.l. (“B.M.”) to benefit from the effect of a final judgment in relation to the fine that the ICA had imposed on the said company in 2018 in the framework of a cartel decision.[2]