On February 14, 2019, the European Commission, European Parliament, and Council of the European Union reached agreement on new rules designed to ensure a fair, transparent and predictable business environment to the benefit of both end consumers and entrepreneurs using third party online platforms for their business. The new rules will be implemented by way … Continue Reading
On 10 May 2017, the European Commission published its final report on its two-year e-commerce sector inquiry (the Final Report). Many of the conclusions in the Final Report closely follow the Commission’s preliminary report, which were analysed and summarised in our last client alert on the e-commerce inquiry, and were also featured in our webinar … Continue Reading
Facebook is faced with a fine of EUR110 million (US$122 million) for providing misrepresentative or incorrect information to the European Commission when it filed the acquisition of WhatsApp for merger approval in 2014. In the notification, Facebook stated it would not be able to reliably link Facebook users’ accounts and WhatsApp users’ accounts. However, two … Continue Reading
In January of 2017 a private equity firm, Bencis, was found liable for a portfolio company’s involvement as one of 14 cartelists producing flour in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) ruled that while company was a member of Bencis’s portfolio, Bencis was accountable for their antitrust violations. This … Continue Reading
Competition authorities at both European and national levels are turning their attention to markets affecting the retail sector. The shift in focus is illustrated by the recent inquiries by the European Commission into e-commerce and by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into the modelling agencies sector, in an effort to discover instances of … Continue Reading
This post was written by Peter Teare, Alexandra A. Nelson, and Lorraine M. Campos. A landmark ruling of the European Court of Justice last month has significantly restricted the ability of EU governments to use sole-source or negotiated procedures with selected suppliers for purchases of defense and security equipment. In a case concerning the purchase … Continue Reading
This post was also written by Angela Gregson. There has been a perception that Asian companies have received unfair treatment at the hands of the European Commission over the years. Three recent appeal cases brought by Mitsubishi Electric Corp (“Mitsubishi”), Toshiba Corp (“Toshiba”) and Fuji Electric Company Ltd (“Fuji”) appear to confirm this as fact. … Continue Reading
