A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
After more than two years of Covid 19, people strive to meet in person again. In addition to personal meetings in the private sphere, in-person meetings in the business environment are also on the rise again. Of course, this also includes conferences, many of which have not taken place or have only taken place virtually … Continue reading Antitrust likes to meet
While cooperations between competing undertakings stay under heavy scrutiny, there seems to be a trend of regulators cooperating cross-border. Those cooperations often concern (a growing number of) topics that are perceived to be wider than national, and that regulators might think can only be properly tackled together. Here is a rundown of fora which have … Continue reading Cross-border cooperation of regulators – a trend for many topics
Fuel prices in Germany and many other countries are rising to heights that were hardly imaginable some time ago. This has led to increasing calls from politicians in recent days for an antitrust review of petrol pricing. In this post, we take a look at respective antitrust actions in the past, try to speculate why … Continue reading All one giant cartel?
Amongst us running this blog, there are different views on whether one should write about something with a direct link to Ukraine. Because we have lately received a number of questions on how to deal with (potential) merger control proceedings in jurisdictions or with regulators in crisis, I have opted to summarize what one might … Continue reading Merger control in times of crisis
The German Ministry of Economic Affairs (called the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action since the Green Party took over the ministry, short BMWK) has published the German government’s competition policy agenda for the next three years. We have looked at the most important points (admittedly, not always with the otherwise warranted seriousness). Grist … Continue reading What to expect from Germany’s competition policy in the upcoming years
Starting with a spoiler: The answer is a clear YES! The draft Data Act published by the European Commission touches upon and is intertwined with antitrust in many ways. Here is why and how. The European Commission has tabled its proposal for the Data Act. The new rules are meant to introduce “measures for a … Continue reading The Data Act – an antitrust topic?
Last week, five competition authorities announced to launch a new working group focussed on sharing information to identify and prevent potentially anticompetitive conduct in the global supply and distribution of goods. In this post, we will elaborate why these five cartel authorities in particular are working together (and who is not participating this time). We … Continue reading Supply chains and antitrust
The European Commission has launched an “additional” public consultation on guidance regarding information exchange in dual distribution. More guidance is welcome, but timing is tight. This post provides a short overview of what the guidance/consultation are about and of their policy implications. The Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the accompanying Vertical Guidelines lay out … Continue reading Dual distribution, information exchange, and the EC’s consultation – practical and policy highlights
January was quite a month for the video gaming industry with three blockbuster deals. Many commentators have tried to predict potential antitrust issues and highlighted the anticipated interest of antitrust regulators in these cases worldwide. In this post, we provide an overview of recent developments and the relevant markets. The new year started with a … Continue reading Billion-dollar baby: Playing video games
GlobalWafers’ acquisition of Siltronic has failed because German foreign investment control approval could not be obtained in time. The case stands for a development in past years: Many countries have tightened their foreign investment regimes, some of them considerably. In this post, we undertake a brief review of the history of foreign investment control in … Continue reading Foreign investment control in Germany – a short history
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