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10 Sep

Case highlight - Google Shopping

๐†๐จ๐จ๐ ๐ฅ๐ž ๐’๐ก๐จ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ : ๐„๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‰๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ž ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐Ÿ๐ข๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฌ โ‚ฌ๐Ÿ.๐Ÿ’ ๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ง๐ž

In 2017, the EU Commission decided that Google had abused its dominant position by favouring its own comparison shopping services and by demoting competing shopping pages on Googleโ€™s search engine. The General Court upheld the decision in 2021 and the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice now does the same on appeal.

๐Ž๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ after a first reading of the judgement:

โ€ข The strict case-law relating to refusal to supply as an abuse of dominance applies only to explicit refusals to supply and not to other practices that constitute an independent form of levering abuse, such as the discriminatory positioning and display practices applied by Google.
โ€ข Self-preferencing by a dominant undertaking does not necessarily constitute an abuse of a dominant position. It can be however if it, in the specific circumstances, falls outside the scope of competition on the merits.
โ€ข The Commission cannot rely on presumptions and must instead show that a practice has actual or potential anti-competitive effects, taking into account all the relevant factual circumstances. This does not always mean that it must demonstrate that the conduct is capable of excluding an as-efficient competitor as this may not always be possible or relevant.
โ€ข The Commission must demonstrate the causal link between the practice and the effects. The Commission may in this respect rely on correlations complemented by additional information such as the assessments of market participants, their suppliers, their customers or professional or consumer associations.
โ€ข Googleโ€™s record fine of 2.42 billion euros is upheld.

๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ?
Read the judgement (Case C 48/22 P) ๐Ÿ–นย 

๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Feel free to contact your usual contact person at ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ.

#CJEU #GeneralCourt #Google #Alphabet #Europeancommission #Competitionlaw #AntiTrust #contrastupdate

Case highlight
05 Sep

DLC event on verticals - join us

๐Ÿšจ ๐‰๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ƒ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐›๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐‹๐š๐ฐ ๐‚๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซโ€™๐ฌ ๐€๐ง๐ง๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ ๐”๐ฉ๐๐š๐ญ๐ž ๐จ๐ง ๐•๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ! ๐Ÿšจ

The DLC - Distribution Law Center is hosting a 2-hour ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง on ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ ๐Ž๐œ๐ญ๐จ๐›๐ž๐ซ on key developments in the field of vertical agreements in 2023-2024.

๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ, as one of the driving forces behind DLC, is pleased to invite you to this annual update, giving you ๐ญ๐š๐ค๐ž๐š๐ฐ๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ๐ฉ๐ข๐œ๐ฌ:

โ˜› Resale price maintenance, featuring EU and national cases such as Super Bock, Le Creuset, and Samsung. โ˜› Territorial and customer restrictions, including the EU Commissionโ€™s significant fine on Mondelez. โ˜› Online sales and advertising restrictions, with EU and national cases involving ๐–ป๐—ˆ๐—ˆ๐—„๐—‚๐—‡๐—€.๐–ผ๐—ˆ๐—†, Rolex, and Caudalie. โ˜› Information exchange in (dual) distribution relationships. It will also touch upon verticals in the UKJ and address key questions discussed with the โ€˜verticalsโ€™ case team of DG COMP.

๐„๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ž๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ฅ๐ฌ: ๐Ÿ“… ๐‘ซ๐’‚๐’•๐’†: 10 October 2024 โฐ ๐‘ป๐’Š๐’Ž๐’†: 12:00 - 14:00 CET ๐Ÿ”— ๐‘ท๐’๐’‚๐’‡๐’๐’“๐’Ž: Microsoft Teams ๐ŸŒ ๐‘ด๐’๐’“๐’† ๐’Š๐’๐’‡๐’: visit the website of the Distribution Law Center (https://lnkd.in/eiyshKGJ) for all practical information. ๐Ÿ’ฐ ๐‘ญ๐’“๐’†๐’† ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’๐’•

๐ˆ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐š๐ญ๐ญ๐ž๐ง๐๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐ž๐ž ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง๐ญ? Register via the following link ๐Ÿ”— https://lnkd.in/eTgzAb4V

#dlc #VBER #distributionlaw #verticalagreements #lawfirm #lawyers #inhousecounsels #meetcontrast

DLC
04 Sep

New FDI notification form

๐Ÿ“ขย ๐ˆ๐’๐‚ ๐‘๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž๐ฌ ๐”๐ฉ๐๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐…๐ƒ๐ˆ ๐๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐“๐ž๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž

On 29 August 2024, theย Interfederal Screening Committee (โ€œ๐ˆ๐’๐‚โ€)ย published its new template notification form:

- ๐ƒ๐ฎ๐ญ๐œ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ”—https://lnkd.in/erMTy7PP
- ๐…๐ซ๐ž๐ง๐œ๐ก ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐Ÿ”—https://lnkd.in/e5iiKWiG

Non-EU investors must use this form when notifying transactions for Belgian FDI review.

The new form enters into force immediately. However, the previous template can still be used until 30 September 2024.

It is the ISCโ€™s first revision of its notification form since the start of the Belgian FDI regime last year. This revision follows a consultation with all the major law firms that are active and experienced in notifying transactions to the ISC, including ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ.

๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ is happy to have shared its insights, experience and suggestions with the ISC.

We remain available for any questions in this regard.

#FDI #FDIscreening #FDIregime #contrastlaw #contrastupdate

contrast update
03 Sep

Breaking news re merger control

๐๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐Ÿšจ ๐ˆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐š/๐†๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ฅ: ๐š ๐ ๐จ๐จ๐ ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ฅ ๐œ๐ž๐ซ๐ญ๐š๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐„๐” ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ!

The Court of Justice says that the European Commission ("EC") has no power to review transactions at request of Member States that cannot review the transaction themselves under their national merger control regime.

The General Court had incorrectly allowed national competition authorities to refer mergers to the EC, even if these did not have a European dimension or meet national thresholds for review, based on ๐€๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ฅ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐„๐” ๐Œ๐ž๐ซ๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.

The rationale behind the ECโ€™s revised approach to Article 22, was to enable the EC to review acquisitions whereby at least one of the partiesโ€™ turnover does not reflect its actual or future competitive potential and thus falls below the merger control thresholds. Illuminaโ€™s planned acquisition of Grail was the first transaction referred to the EC under the revised policy.

After the Court of Justiceโ€™s judgement, ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐œ๐ก ๐ซ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ž๐ซ๐ซ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ง๐จ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ž๐ซ ๐›๐ž ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐›๐ฅ๐ž. Moreover, as regards Illumina and Grail specifically, this judgment is likely going to result in the annulment of their gun jumping fine. Ongoing similar reviews (e.g. Brasserie Nationale / Boissons Heinz) will moreover need to be stopped due to having no valid legal basis.

Despite todayโ€™s judgment, the ECโ€™s revised approach has had its impact in practice as it resulted in the abandonment of several transactions, such as Illumina/Grail, EEX/Nasdaq Power and Qualcomm/Autotalks. It remains to be seen whether the companies involved will try to seek redress from the EC for its regulatory overreach ...

๐–๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ญ:
โœ”๏ธ ruled that the Merger Regulation does not provide a "corrective mechanism" for reviewing all mergers with significant effects on EU competition.
โœ”๏ธ emphasised that the thresholds for notifying and reviewing transactions are crucial for ensuring legal certainty and predictability for companies.
โœ”๏ธ stressed that companies must be able to determine easily whether their transactions require notification, which authority will review them, and what procedural requirements apply.

Companies should however be mindful that an increasing number of national authorities have obtained (or are likely to obtain in the near future) the authority to โ€œcall inโ€ transactions that do not meet the national thresholds.

๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ?
๐Ÿ–น Read the judgement https://lnkd.in/e9XYpZkZ
๐Ÿ–น Read our ITP on the judgement of the General Court https://lnkd.in/er3rmebt

๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Feel free to contact your usual contact person at contrast.

Case highlight
02 Sep

Welcome to our September summer interns!

๐ŸŽ‰ ๐–๐ž๐ฅ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐€๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐†๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ž! ๐ŸŽ‰

We are thrilled to welcome Astrid and Gitte as our summer interns for September. Their fresh ideas and enthusiasm are sure to make a valuable contribution to our team! ๐ŸŒŸ

Are you ready for an internship filled with learning experiences and exciting challenges? Discover our internships and other career opportunities for 2025 ๐Ÿ’ผ

#internship #legalinternship #lawstudent #careergrowth #summerintern #learningopportunities

Students
29 Aug

Summer vibes

๐ŸŒž ๐„๐ฆ๐›๐ซ๐š๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐’๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ ๐•๐ข๐›๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ญ ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐ฌ๐ญ! ๐ŸŒž

Our Vibes team treated us to a delightful breakย with delicious desserts and homemade lemonades. It was the perfect way to enjoy a sunny afternoon and recharge our batteries. ๐Ÿ‹๐Ÿฐ

In true office fashion, our relaxing break took an unexpected turn with a fire drill! Evacuating the building with a glass of lemonade in hand โ€“ just another day at the law firm. ๐Ÿ˜…

Hereโ€™s to more sunny days, sweet treats, and memorable moments with our fantastic team! ๐ŸŒŸ

#SummerVibes #LawFirmLife #TeamBuilding #OfficeFun #contrastVibes

contrast vibes
20 Aug

Case highlight

๐Ÿ’ก ๐๐ฎ๐œ๐ญ๐ž๐œ๐ก ๐ฏ๐ฌ. ๐„๐ฎ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐ž๐š๐ง ๐‚๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง (๐“-๐Ÿ๐Ÿ–๐Ÿ’/๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’ ๐‘)

EU Commissionโ€™s jurisdiction over ๐๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ž ๐„๐” upheld by General Courtโ€™s President.

On 12 August 2024, the President of the General Court rejected a request for interim relief from security inspection company Nuctech. In the context of the first inspection under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Commission had ordered Nuctech to produce documents stored on servers located in China. Nuctech had asked the President of the General Court to suspend the Commissionโ€™s decision.

In his Order, the President ruled that Nuctech did not have a ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ข ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ฆ case against the Commissionโ€™s decision:
โœ”๏ธ The Commissionโ€™s jurisdiction extends to all companies with activities in the EU, irrespective of their place of incorporation.
โœ”๏ธ The Commission can request to see/copy documents in possession of those companies, irrespective of where these documents are located.
โœ”๏ธ Companies need to explain why they have no access to information stored on servers located outside the EU.
โœ”๏ธ Companies need to explain why producing the requested documents would breach non-EU law and why such breach would constitute a breach of international public law. The Commission is bound only by EU law and international public law.

๐Œ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐ข๐ง๐Ÿ๐จ?

๐Ÿ–น Read theย full text of the judgment

๐Ÿ–น Read our In The Picture on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation

๐๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ž๐š๐ซ๐ง ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ž ๐š๐›๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐š๐ฐ๐ง ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐๐ฌ?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Feel free to contact your usual contact person at contrast.

#competitionlaw #europeancommission #EUGeneralCourt #dawnraid #FSR #contrastupdate

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