The German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) has launched a sector inquiry in the provision and marketing of publicly accessible charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. According to the FCO’s president, Andreas Mundt, the FCO has received several complaints about prices and conditions at the charging stations. Read more
Earlier this year, we discussed the potential implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on cartels and collaboration between competitors (see our e-bulletins here and here). Regulators have been open to allowing certain types of cooperation between competitors to address the impact of the crisis. They have nonetheless been careful to stress that this is not general … Read more
This blog post is an adapted version of a briefing paper prepared with the economics consultancy, Oxera, in connection with our joint webinar event on the European Green Deal and its implications for regulation, State aid and competition policy. The webinar, which will feature speakers from the European Commission, the judiciary and private practice, will … Read more
In the first application by the CMA for a competition disqualification order to reach the courts, the High Court, on 3 July 2020, imposed a competition director disqualification order for a period of 7 years on Mr Michael Martin, a former director of Gary Berryman Estate Agents, and ordered an interim payment of costs of … Read more
We are delighted to share with you our newly updated report on Foreign Investment: Rising Tides of Politics in Regulation, which reflects a swathe of recent changes to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) regimes around the world against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic. FDI filings have become an increasingly important piece of the regulatory jigsaw … Read more
On 29 June 2020 the CMA imposed total fines of £5.8 million for resale price maintenance (RPM) in the musical instruments and equipment sector, in three separate cases. This follows the fines imposed in August last year on Casio (£3.7 million) and in January this year on Fender (£4.5 million) for similar conduct and brings … Read more
On 24 June 2020, the Constitutional Court (“Court”) issued its decision in the Competition Commission’s appeal from the Competition Appeal Court (“CAC”) in Competition Commission v Pickfords Removals SA (Pty) Ltd (CCT123/19) [2020] ZACC 14. The judgment dealt with: the effective date of complaint initiation into a prohibited practice in circumstances where a firm was … Read more
In an earlier blog post we discussed the ‘evaluation and fitness check roadmap’ conducted by the European Commission (Commission) in relation to its 1997 Notice on the definition of relevant markets (Notice). In light of the initial feedback received by the Commission, on 26 June 2020 it published a ‘public consultation for the 2020 Evaluation … Read more
JD Sports has filed an appeal with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) against the decision by the CMA to prohibit its acquisition of rival retailer Footasylum, with the appropriate treatment of Covid-19 a key area of dispute between the parties and the CMA. Among the grounds of appeal published on 23 June 2020, JD Sports … Read more
