A blog about the intersection of antitrust, foreign investment control, politics, and everything in between
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
Nearly unnoticed by the antitrust world, the German Bundeskartellamt has terminated proceedings against Google regarding so-called “Transport Layer Security Certificates”. With nearly daily decisions or new investigations against big tech, the termination of a proceeding without a finding or a fine appears almost rare. Here is a short run through the when, how, and why … Continue reading Not always against big tech: Bundeskartellamt terminates proceeding against Google
In part IV of our series on antitrust and the political system, Christoph Haid, partner at Austrian law firm schoenherr, reviews the last year that brought significant changes to the Austrian authority and the competition law regime. An abrupt ending to a year long reign, with a new election scheduled for 2022 – what sounds … Continue reading Antitrust and the Political System – Austria: A review of 2021
The European Commission has published its final report on the sector inquiry into the consumer Internet of Things (IoT), i.e., into “smart devices” like wearables, smart speakers or smart home products. The document is a pretty crisp summary of the consumer IoT as the Commission sees it and contains quite a number of hints on … Continue reading A few thoughts on the European Commission’s Internet of Things Sector Inquiry
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