Within little more than two weeks in April 2026, the antitrust regulators in Italy, France, South Korea and Japan issued decisions concerning forms of coordination that would strike antitrust experts and laypersons alike as familiar: Market and customer allocation, price-fixing and bid rigging. That does not, by itself, prove that “cartels are back”. However, it … Continue reading Four cartels and one takeaway: Familiar conduct, fresh decisions →

Last week, the European General Court (GC) delivered its judgment in the Red Bull and Others v Commission case clarifying the scope of cost reimbursement following inspections by the European Commission (“dawn raids”). The GC upheld the Commission’s refusal to reimburse most of the legal costs claimed by Red Bull after the inspection was conducted … Continue reading Cost Reimbursement after EU Dawn Raids: The Red Bull Judgment in Context →

The European Commission´s revised Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and the accompanying guidelines (Guidelines) will enter into force on 1 May 2026. While leaving the architecture of the old (2014) TTBER largely intact, the update responds to pressure points that had become increasingly difficult to ignore: Data-driven licensing models, collective negotiation dynamics, and uncertainty … Continue reading TTBER 2.0: Navigating New Rules in Technology Licensing →

The so-called “Kraftstoffmaßnahmenpaket” – fuel measures package – entered into force in Germany on 1 April 2026 against a tense geopolitical backdrop. The package is a set of legislative measures aimed at improving oversight of fuel pricing and competition in the fuel market. In the preceding weeks, oil prices moved sharply amid the conflict involving … Continue reading Kraftstoffmaßnahmenpaket: Not just about fuel →

We have observed that an increasing number of posts originally published on Antitrustpolitics.com are appearing in AI-generated answers on antitrust-related topics. While we are pleased that the blog is attracting this (artificial) attention, it also increases the “responsibility” to provide high‑quality input and guidance for AI tools as well as for human readers, whether they … Continue reading Supplier squeezing or customer tying? It all depends on who restricts whom →

Your weekly shopping takes place on the battlefields of an ongoing power struggle in the aisles: What ends up on the shelf at what price and in whose store depends not only on consumer preference but also on hard bargaining between global fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) giants and supermarket chains. For antitrust lawyers, food retail … Continue reading Consolidation in the aisles – bargaining power in the food retail sector →

The European Commission's newly proposed Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA) marks a significant add-on to the EU's approach to regulating foreign investments. For foreign investors – and the advisers who counsel them – the proposal introduces a novel layer of mandatory conditions that must be satisfied before investments in emerging strategic sectors can proceed. These requirements … Continue reading The EU’s Industrial Accelerator Act: A new layer of FDI scrutiny for strategic sectors →