A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
Last year, we summarized the key numbers of German foreign investment control for 2024 (see here). This week, the German Ministry of Economics released its figures for 2025. In this sequel to my previous post, I will outline the main developments in 2025 compared to 2024 and explore what the 2025 figures reveal about enforcement … Continue reading German Foreign Investment Control 2025 in numbers
EU competition law is supposed to keep pace with increasingly dynamic and fast‑moving markets. As enforcement is getting more complex, proceedings tend to drag on for years. At the same time, the practical effectiveness of traditional remedies has come under renewed scrutiny. Recent developments – including the long-awaited end of the Intel saga – might … Continue reading A story of lengthy proceedings and unexplored shortcuts
Traditionally, foreign investment control was largely about the "hardware" of national security. Regulators cared about who owned the ports, the power plants, the tank manufacturers. If an acquirer was not buying a "strategic" physical asset, reviews tended to be smooth. Those times are over. While the US was somewhat ahead with this, also in Europe … Continue reading A new frontier: Is FDI screening morphing into a data protection tool?
Last year ended with a remarkable judgment by the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart concerning a follow-on damage claim. The case related to the bathroom fittings cartel. The judgment, inter alia, clarifies requirements related to the burden of proof, and endorses an innovative multi‑stage structured assessment for quantifying alleged cartel damages by introducing a cartel … Continue reading Private cartel enforcement and a new innovative approach
2026 has started and we are back with our blog! As many people set new resolutions for the new year, I thought this would be the perfect moment to suggest some antitrust goals for 2026. Looking back at 2025, two European Commission cases offer the ideal starting point. Both had one thing in common: The … Continue reading New year, new (and old) antitrust goals: Avoiding risks in associations
By Tomáš Varšo, Aneta Králová and Robert Neruda, HAVEL & PARTNERS The Slovak Competition Authority (Protimonopolný úrad SR) has recently published an economic report that might break new ground in its policy. The watchdog conducted a comprehensive analysis that examines the competitive environment of the Slovak labour market. The study builds upon the increased interest … Continue reading The Slovak Study on Competition in the Labour Market: Changes in Much More Than Competition Policy?
Netflix may not yet be interested in my tales of Lotte, the fearless competition lawyer (maybe because they are too busy with their own merger, their Christmas movie offering could definitively use better movies), but that will not stop me from continuing the saga for the admittedly small group of fans out there, demonstrating that … Continue reading Do you believe in Santa Claus?
Before we wrap up the year with our traditional Christmas story, let us take a moment to celebrate other things which belong to Christmas just like mulled wine, cookies and the Christmas tree – classics like Home Alone, Die Hard and, of course, Harry Potter. While some of us eagerly await the new season of … Continue reading Get Warner – “An Anti-Monopoly Nightmare”
Co-authored by Robin Sachs The German waste management sector has been under close antitrust scrutiny for years, and the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has now taken the next step. For the first time, the regulator has issued a decision under Section 32f (2) German Competition Act (GWB), imposing extended merger-notification obligations on the Rethmann … Continue reading Waste management under scrutiny: Rethmann the first having to notify sub-threshold mergers
A few years ago, sustainability cooperations seemed to be the next big thing in antitrust. Today, however, it’s clear that some disillusionment has set in. The number of publicaly known cooperations offically justified by sustainability considerations is still very limited. Now, sustainability cooperations seem to encounter new headwind from the United States. Time to alert … Continue reading Antitrust and ESG – different views and resulting new risks
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