Germany: Cartels, Monopolies

In this issue, we explore a range of notable competition law developments across Europe and Asia, including a German Court's ruling confirming that managing directors may face personal...

The German government has unveiled a draft 12th Amendment to its competition law that would substantially raise merger control thresholds while simultaneously expanding the reach...

A German court's landmark decision in the European bathroom fittings cartel case has established a five-step framework for estimating cartel damages, with particular emphasis on using economic simulation models to assess pass-through rates to indirect purchasers. This analysis explores how these models address the fundamental challenge of reconstructing unobservable counterfactual market conditions and demonstrates their practical applicability in litigation.

The French competition authority, the Autorité de la Concurrence, has published a cartel decision, which is of particular relevance for associations as it clarifies the red lines drawn by antitrust law...

Cartels have long since ceased to be forged exclusively at highway service stations. Back in 2017, we highlighted the effects of digitalization on antitrust compliance in an article ("Antitrust law 4.0").

It is not just in the automotive industry that commercial representative models or "agency models" are currently booming. More and more manufacturers...

Now, the OLG Düsseldorf has suspended the FCO's decision.

The Federal Cartel Office ("BKartA") has imposed far-reaching restrictions on Facebook Inc. and Facebook Germany GmbH ("Facebook") with respect to their processing of user data.

The vote of a case handler is an integral part of a merger control file, in particular in phase 1 proceedings in which there is no detailed decision.