Tag: antitrust
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While Spain took the trophy, Luxembourg took another look at the rulebook
This July, while the rest of us were tuned in to the World Cup, remarkably, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) delivered a hat-trick of its own: three football-related judgments. Beyond the beautiful game, they shared a common question, namely, how to reconcile the regulatory and disciplinary autonomy of football governing bodies…
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Strength in Numbers? Aggregating Competition Claims in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK (Efficiency in Competition Litigation, Part 1)
This is the opening piece of a short series examining how three European jurisdictions seek to resolve large competition claims efficiently. Private enforcement of competition law in Europe has grown into an established field of litigation, where mass proceedings are routinely brought and resolved. Claims initiated by or on behalf of sometimes thousands of victims,…
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When “margin guarantees” and “price moderation” on a B2B marketplace add up to resale price maintenance
Vertical price fixing remains a core enforcement priority for the Bundeskartellamt. A recent decision in the tyre wholesale sector is a reminder that resale price maintenance does not need an explicit fixed or minimum resale price to be unlawful – recommended prices, margin guarantees and platform-based price monitoring can add up to the same thing.…
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The new French Group Action Law: New Risks and New Opportunities for Businesses in France
By Marc Barennes* and Agathe Missakian** Introduction In 2025, France adopted a modified group action framework, which entered into force on 3 May 2025.[1] Article 16 of the Law No. 2025-432, as supplemented by three successive decrees (hereafter the “Decrees”), establishes a unified set of rules for group actions (hereafter the “Group Action Law”) in France.[2]…
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All change for the UK merger regime – Except the standard of review?
Traditionally, the UK has had a two-stage decision making process for merger cases. First, there were two separate organisations, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition Commission (CC). The OFT would carry out the first phase review of a merger (“Phase 1”) and, if there were reasonable prospects that the merger would result…
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From Blueprints to Outcomes: UK Competition Litigation Trends to Watch in 2026
2026 is set to be another important year for claimants and class representatives seeking redress for competition law infringements in the UK. While questions about legal thresholds for the proper functioning of the regime have not fallen away entirely – particularly following the Supreme Court’s judgment in Evans – they are no longer the key…
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Balancing Fundamental Rights and Antitrust Enforcement: AG Medina’s Opinions on Email Seizures in IMI/Synlabhealth II
Do the fundamental rights to the protection of private life (Article 7 of the Charter[1]) and of personal data (Article 8 of the Charter[2]) preclude competition authorities from seizing professional emails during inspections without prior judicial authorisation? This is the question addressed by Advocate General (“AG”) Medina in her Opinions of 20 June 2024[3] (“First…
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Bulls vs Monsters: The General Court rejects Red Bull’s appeal against the Commission’s dawn raid decision
On 15 October, the General Court (“GC”) rejected Red Bull’s appeal against the European Commission (“EC”) dawn raid decision, in a case triggered by an informal complaint from Red Bull’s competitor, Monster Energy. In summary, the GC found that: The judgment contains interesting takeaways regarding the reasoning of dawn raid decisions, the sufficiency of evidence…
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Combination Therapies in Pharma – Removing the Antitrust Roadblock
This month, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published guidance on information exchange between pharmaceutical companies in the context of the reimbursement application procedure for combination therapies. This follows a prioritisation statement adopted by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in 2023 on the same issue and long-standing demands from the Belgian pharmaceutical industry.[1] In…
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Private Equity and Common Ownership in Professional Rugby: Applying the Delivery Hero Standard
By Dr Beverley Williamson From time to time, the Thicket blog invites guest bloggers to write about a topic that is close to their heart. Geradin Partners is pleased to give the floor to friend of the blog Dr Bev Williamson who is an expert in the application of competition law in the sports industry.…