European Competition Review 2022

• Jurisdiction: European Union
• Law Firm: McDermott Will & Emery
• Subject Matter: Antitrust/Competition Law, Antitrust, EU Competition , Cartels, Monopolies
• Author: Mr Jacques Buhart, Stéphane Dionnet, Frédéric Pradelles, Hendrik Viaene, Mary Hecht, Andrea Otaola, Karolien Van Der Putten and Hannelore Wiame
• Published date: 15 February 2023

OVERVIEW

In our super-connected age, we are inundated with information. It can be difficult to select what is really relevant to one's business.

The purpose of this Review is to provide legal counsel and their teams easy reference guidance on essential EU competition law developments covering key areas of law and policy, to help keep you up to date on the latest requirements.

Inside you'll find:

Cartels & Restrictive AgreementsCartels were firmly in the authorities' crosshairs in 2022. Excess pricing in the automotive industry, the exchange of sensitive information in the computing industry and coordinated pricing in aviation were all major focus points and led to some interesting decisions.

Abuse of Dominant PositionQuestions before the courts included the scope of B2B customer rebate schemes and how close incentives come to having anti-competitive effect.

Merger ControlGun-jumping remains a real focus for the European courts. Companies should also be acutely aware of developments surrounding notification thresholds.

State AidArticle 107 (1) TFEU contains a general prohibition on State aid. But there are exceptions. Over the course of 2022 a number of judgments helped to shed some light on when State aid is permissible.

Legislative and Policy DevelopmentsThe European Commission found itself under scrutiny, both in terms of the procedure for payment of fines and in terms of decisions on anticompetitive practices. Companies should carefully consider how upcoming developments on the digital market, and the new Foreign Subsidies Regulation may affect their business. Vertical agreements, and the entry into force of the new VBER, are also hot topics.

CARTELS & RESTRICTIVE AGREEMENTS

ARTICLES

• Preliminary Ruling of the CJEU in Case C-588/20, Daimler (Refuse trucks). Read here.
• Optical Disk Drive Cartel, ODDs (CJEU C-697/19 P - C-700/19 P) Read here.
• The GCEU Reduces Fines for Several Undertakings Involved in the Air Freight Cartel but Upholds Fines in the Majority of the Cases. Read here.

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