As 2013 comes to an end, we look back on developments in EU Competition Law since our last newsletter, which covered the first half of the year.
Cartel Enforcement
In the area of EU cartel enforcement, issues of interest include:
- The continuing debate on (potential) claimants' access to
information for follow-on damages actions:
- At the EU level in The Netherlands v. Commission
- At the national level in the UK's Secretary of State for Health and Others v Servier Laboratories and Others and National Grid Electricity Transmissions PLC v ABB Limited and Others
- The Court of Justice's conflicting judgments on the ever important concept of a " single and continuous infringement"
- Post-Deutche Bahn: what companies and the European Commission can do during dawn raids
Vertical Agreements
European Commission and National Competition Authorities continue to have a negative view of resale price maintenance and most-favored nation clauses. Businesses and practitioners that use either should be prepared for more antitrust investigations.
Commitments
Commitment decisions appear to have become the European Commission's enforcement tool of choice when resolving abuse of dominance cases. Our article in the Journal of Antitrust Enforcement takes an in-depth look at this evolution and whether it is a good thing.
2014 Hot Topics
A number of issues will be tackled in 2014. We anticipate:
- The reform of merger control, including a conclusion on the minority shareholding debate
- The adoption of the antitrust private damages package
- The adoption of a new Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and new accompanying guidelines
- Post-Samsung: a resolution in the standard essential patents (SEPs) dispute.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
