Novel or unresolved – The Commission’s draft informal guidance notice

A bit overshadowed by other big legislative processes (we know what we are talking about), the Commission has also been actively updating its notices currently not so much in the focus of the public eye. Having made some progress on the simplified procedure in merger control cases already, the Commission recently presented an updated draft … Continue reading Novel or unresolved – The Commission’s draft informal guidance notice →

Tech, sports and…Greece – A week full of news

Big tech, sports, labour markets and authorities' rediscovered delight in unannounced inspections – the week has been full of news regarding antitrust’s most trending topics. As we blogged about most of them before (or wrote about them somewhere else), we could not decide which of them drew most of our attention. So, we opted to … Continue reading Tech, sports and…Greece – A week full of news →

Take it or leave it: Referrals in the EU

There has been quite some talk lately about how the European Commission and national regulators will deal with their respective competences once the Digital Market Act has been set into force. In merger control, referrals in both directions are well established with some very crucial legal and political questions currently in the spotlight. An opportunity … Continue reading Take it or leave it: Referrals in the EU →

Cross-border cooperation of regulators – a trend for many topics

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 →

Billion-dollar baby: Playing video games

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 →

Not always against big tech: Bundeskartellamt terminates proceeding against Google

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 →

TV ads & crooks – “Antitrust & the Political System” goes to France

In part III of our series antitrust and the political system, Guillaume Fabre, partner at French antitrust boutique Jouvensal Fabre, gives insights into the French antitrust world and latest developments. On 4 October 2021, the small world of competition law in Paris was thrown in turmoil. Ms de Silva was widely expected to be appointed … Continue reading TV ads & crooks – “Antitrust & the Political System” goes to France →

A new game to play? Current and upcoming antitrust issues in sports

We blogged about acquisitions of football clubs and the German 50+1 rule a while ago. But there are far more antitrust aspects clubs, associations and organisations should keep in mind. This post gives an overview of recent developments and outlines what it means to play fair and square in antitrust terms. Whilst cooperations between competitors, … Continue reading A new game to play? Current and upcoming antitrust issues in sports →