EU Commission already under pressure to investigate foreign subsidies?

The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation started to apply about a month ago. Most observers expected the regulation’s strongest impact to be on M&A transactions, not least because the European Commission does not exactly seem to have an abundance of staff to deal with the new rules. Yet, the regulator received at least two complaints against … Continue reading EU Commission already under pressure to investigate foreign subsidies? →

Politics in antitrust – Look no further

Anyone who still doubted that politics play an increasing role in antitrust should by now be convinced of the opposite: The recent appointment of the new Chief Economist at the European Commission is another instance where antitrust made it to the mainstream press across Europe. This post provides a short summary of what happened and … Continue reading Politics in antitrust – Look no further →

Clarifications on Foreign Subsidies

The EU’s Foreign Subsidies Regulation will start to apply in about two weeks. While some things are still in limbo, the European Commission has published a Q&A to clarify certain topics. The Q&A admittedly went online earlier this month, but I could not find a good summary so far – so I thought the one … Continue reading Clarifications on Foreign Subsidies →

Circumventing a merger prohibition

Even though it is raining while I am writing this, summertime is here, and with it high season for festivals and concerts. Agencies help with organizing and booking artists for these sorts of events. As in any other area, antitrust regulators are tasked with keeping the market open, at least to the extent they have … Continue reading Circumventing a merger prohibition →

PR campaigns in antitrust

Antitrust used to be a niche. Known to practitioners and experts, of course. Cases were kept, progressed, and negotiated in that environment. Those times are long gone. We have seen an increasing trend towards companies turning to publicity and PR campaigns as a tool in both merger control and antitrust proceedings. PR work is used … Continue reading PR campaigns in antitrust →

Simplifying EU merger control filings

Today, the European Commission adopted a package to simplify its merger control process for transactions that do not raise concerns. Many practitioners will agree that in the past, opting to submit a simplified filing did not necessarily simplify or expedite a case. Let’s take a look at how the Commission intends to change that. Merger … Continue reading Simplifying EU merger control filings →

Procedural errors – rich case law and five key takeaways

Co-authored by Friederike Melters. Earlier this month, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) declared dawn raids by the European Commission invalid. The decisions confirm that a “procedural” step like a dawn raid can be appealed by itself and that it can be invalid because of previous procedural mistakes. They tie in with other court decisions, … Continue reading Procedural errors – rich case law and five key takeaways →

Cartels are back!?

This week has seen two highlights in cartel investigations: Coordinated international dawn raids in the fragrance industry and a warning to small businesses that they are not exempt from antitrust enforcement. Here are the key reasons why both cases are important. For years, we have observed decreasing numbers of leniency applications, cartel cases and cartel … Continue reading Cartels are back!? →

German regulator overturned: No substantial activity in Germany

The ruling was admittedly published already at the end of last year, but I feel it did not receive the attention it deserved, and I was anyway interested in taking a deeper dive: The Higher Regional Court of Duesseldorf found that the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) did not have jurisdiction to review Meta’s acquisition … Continue reading German regulator overturned: No substantial activity in Germany →

Legal Professional Privilege and Antitrust

We are back from the break! This post covers a topic dear to lawyers and their clients: Legal Professional Privilege. In a ruling last month, the European Court of Justice clarified – some say expanded – the scope of Legal Professional Privilege, granting greater protection to the lawyer-client relationship. While the ruling did not relate … Continue reading Legal Professional Privilege and Antitrust →