Competition law Blog

Official Blog of the European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (CoRe)

On a weekly basis Phedon Nicolaides posts critical analysis pieces on the latest State aid judgments and decisions on his blog State Aid Uncovered. Each article presents the main points of a court ruling or Commission‘s decision, places them in the context of similar case law or practice, assesses the underlying reasoning, and identifies any inconsistencies or contradictions.
Occasional guest blog posts by other State aid experts complement the State aid knowledge hub.

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Case Digests ×

The DMA and EU competition law: complementing or cannibalizing enforcement?

Competition Blogs - 2
The proposal of the DMA signals a significant change with respect to the application and enforcement of EU competition policy to online platforms. Despite the clear synergy between the two frameworks, the European Commission insists that the DMA is introduced with the idea of complementing, rather than replacing, the enforcement of EU competition law in the case of online platforms. […]

Restrictions of competition by object and multi-sided platforms – insights from Budapest Bank

The judgment of the CJEU in Budapest Bank (Case C-228/18) is the most recent case that provides guidance with regard to the application of art. 101 TFEU in the context of multi-sided platforms. The CJEU explicitly confirmed the possibility of finding restrictions of competition by object by such players despite the complexities originating from their multi-sided nature. However, the manner in which […]

EURIBOR Cartel: Features of Collusion and Detection of Cartel

A colleague of mine (kudos for you know who you are) once told me that in his competition law class he has a part called “how to make a good cartel?” A thought-provoking academic exercise in many aspects, indeed. When analyzing cartels in the financial sector this popped in mind to raise other questions – how participants in cartels in […]

Otis II: A lost opportunity to clear the mist

In Otis II, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘Court’) reaffirms that any party can claim damages for loss caused by an EU competition law infringement. More specifically, persons not active on the market affected by a cartel, but who provide subsidies to buyers of the products offered on that market, must be able to claim damages for […]

Corona and EU economic law: Antitrust (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU)

By Friso Bostoen and Liesbet Van Acker As the corona pandemic instils more and more fear in the population, some of its economic effects are immediately noticeable. Two items—hand sanitizer and facemasks—have been in particularly high demand (and short supply). This has driven prices up to a level where one may wonder whether they are abusive in the sense of […]

Reverse payment settlements in the European Union after the Generics (UK) judgment – perplexing legal uncertainty

On January 30th, the Court of Justice (“the Court”) released its judgment in the Generics (UK) case. In a preliminary ruling procedure, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal asked the Court to provide guidance on how to interpret Article 101 TFEU with regard to patent settlements between pharmaceutical companies. The judgment has considerable legal significance as it represents the very first […]

2018:59 Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 9 March 2018 Case name (short version) Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission Case Citation C-271/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:59 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFUE — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Tariff agreement affecting the final price of services […]

Competition law and public procurement – an easy catch for competition enforcers?

If you ask what the common recent trends are among EU Member States in competition law enforcement, the answer surprisingly (or not) would be related not to digital economies but to public procurement. Lately national competition authorities had quite a fruitful harvest investigating competition law infringements in public procurement markets. Among them are, for example, the French, Italian, Dutch, Hellenic, […]

The return of the MFN clauses – platform ranking as an enforcement mechanism for price parity

The MFN cases of the past few years have delivered a series of uncoordinated cases that created a fragmented approach towards MFN clauses. Nowadays it would appear that there is a growing consensus in Europe that wide MFN clauses should be prohibited which, also led major platform like Expedia to abandon these pricing strategies. The recent claim put forward by […]

Collusive conduct in financial instruments trading: a look at the issues of dealing via chatrooms

Following the benchmark currency rate manipulation scandal, the banking sector has had no chance to restore their reputation. Lately, major EU banks have been having competition law issues because of their traders’ collusive behaviour in the bond and global foreign exchange (FX) markets. Two Statements of Objections concerning bond cartels and collusive conduct by certain traders have been issued recently […]
Anja Naumann

Blog Editor

LL.M., PhD, currently legal trainee at the Higher Regional Court of Berlin.

>> Anja’s CoRe Blog posts >>

Daniel Mandrescu
Blog editor Assistant Professor EU competition law, Europa Institute, Leiden University >> Daniel's CoRe blog posts >>
Friso Bostoen

Blog Editor

Assistant Professor of Competition Law and Digital Regulation, Tilburg University

Friso Bostoen is an assistant professor of competition law and digital regulation at Tilburg University. Previously, he was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. He holds degrees from KU Leuven (PhD, LLM) and Harvard University (LLM). Friso’s research focuses on antitrust enforcement in digital markets. His work has resulted in numerous international publications, presentations, and awards (including the AdC Competition Policy Award 2019 and the Concurrences PhD Award 2022). In addition, Friso edits the CoRe Blog and hosts the Monopoly Attack podcast.

>> Friso’s CoRe Blog posts >>

Nelly Stratieva

Head of Editorial Department and Data Protection Officer

Responsible for EStAL (European State Aid Law Quarterly), EPPPL (European Public Private Partnership Law Review) and CoRe (European Competition and Regulatory Law Review). Overseeing Lexxion Publisher’s privacy and data protection compliance.

Parsa Tonkaboni
Picture Rita Paukste
Rita Paukste

Former Blog Editor

Senior Associate, Motieka & Audzevicius PLP, Vilnius

>> Rita’s CoRe Blog posts >>

Case Digests ×

The DMA and EU competition law: complementing or cannibalizing enforcement?

Competition Blogs - 2
The proposal of the DMA signals a significant change with respect to the application and enforcement of EU competition policy to online platforms. Despite the clear synergy between the two frameworks, the European Commission insists that the DMA is introduced with the idea of complementing, rather than replacing, the enforcement of EU competition law in the case of online platforms. […]

Restrictions of competition by object and multi-sided platforms – insights from Budapest Bank

The judgment of the CJEU in Budapest Bank (Case C-228/18) is the most recent case that provides guidance with regard to the application of art. 101 TFEU in the context of multi-sided platforms. The CJEU explicitly confirmed the possibility of finding restrictions of competition by object by such players despite the complexities originating from their multi-sided nature. However, the manner in which […]

EURIBOR Cartel: Features of Collusion and Detection of Cartel

A colleague of mine (kudos for you know who you are) once told me that in his competition law class he has a part called “how to make a good cartel?” A thought-provoking academic exercise in many aspects, indeed. When analyzing cartels in the financial sector this popped in mind to raise other questions – how participants in cartels in […]

Otis II: A lost opportunity to clear the mist

In Otis II, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘Court’) reaffirms that any party can claim damages for loss caused by an EU competition law infringement. More specifically, persons not active on the market affected by a cartel, but who provide subsidies to buyers of the products offered on that market, must be able to claim damages for […]

Corona and EU economic law: Antitrust (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU)

By Friso Bostoen and Liesbet Van Acker As the corona pandemic instils more and more fear in the population, some of its economic effects are immediately noticeable. Two items—hand sanitizer and facemasks—have been in particularly high demand (and short supply). This has driven prices up to a level where one may wonder whether they are abusive in the sense of […]

Reverse payment settlements in the European Union after the Generics (UK) judgment – perplexing legal uncertainty

On January 30th, the Court of Justice (“the Court”) released its judgment in the Generics (UK) case. In a preliminary ruling procedure, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal asked the Court to provide guidance on how to interpret Article 101 TFEU with regard to patent settlements between pharmaceutical companies. The judgment has considerable legal significance as it represents the very first […]

2018:59 Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 9 March 2018 Case name (short version) Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission Case Citation C-271/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:59 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFUE — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Tariff agreement affecting the final price of services […]

Competition law and public procurement – an easy catch for competition enforcers?

If you ask what the common recent trends are among EU Member States in competition law enforcement, the answer surprisingly (or not) would be related not to digital economies but to public procurement. Lately national competition authorities had quite a fruitful harvest investigating competition law infringements in public procurement markets. Among them are, for example, the French, Italian, Dutch, Hellenic, […]

The return of the MFN clauses – platform ranking as an enforcement mechanism for price parity

The MFN cases of the past few years have delivered a series of uncoordinated cases that created a fragmented approach towards MFN clauses. Nowadays it would appear that there is a growing consensus in Europe that wide MFN clauses should be prohibited which, also led major platform like Expedia to abandon these pricing strategies. The recent claim put forward by […]

Collusive conduct in financial instruments trading: a look at the issues of dealing via chatrooms

Following the benchmark currency rate manipulation scandal, the banking sector has had no chance to restore their reputation. Lately, major EU banks have been having competition law issues because of their traders’ collusive behaviour in the bond and global foreign exchange (FX) markets. Two Statements of Objections concerning bond cartels and collusive conduct by certain traders have been issued recently […]

Case Digests ×

The DMA and EU competition law: complementing or cannibalizing enforcement?

Competition Blogs - 2
The proposal of the DMA signals a significant change with respect to the application and enforcement of EU competition policy to online platforms. Despite the clear synergy between the two frameworks, the European Commission insists that the DMA is introduced with the idea of complementing, rather than replacing, the enforcement of EU competition law in the case of online platforms. […]

Restrictions of competition by object and multi-sided platforms – insights from Budapest Bank

The judgment of the CJEU in Budapest Bank (Case C-228/18) is the most recent case that provides guidance with regard to the application of art. 101 TFEU in the context of multi-sided platforms. The CJEU explicitly confirmed the possibility of finding restrictions of competition by object by such players despite the complexities originating from their multi-sided nature. However, the manner in which […]

EURIBOR Cartel: Features of Collusion and Detection of Cartel

A colleague of mine (kudos for you know who you are) once told me that in his competition law class he has a part called “how to make a good cartel?” A thought-provoking academic exercise in many aspects, indeed. When analyzing cartels in the financial sector this popped in mind to raise other questions – how participants in cartels in […]

Otis II: A lost opportunity to clear the mist

In Otis II, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘Court’) reaffirms that any party can claim damages for loss caused by an EU competition law infringement. More specifically, persons not active on the market affected by a cartel, but who provide subsidies to buyers of the products offered on that market, must be able to claim damages for […]

Corona and EU economic law: Antitrust (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU)

By Friso Bostoen and Liesbet Van Acker As the corona pandemic instils more and more fear in the population, some of its economic effects are immediately noticeable. Two items—hand sanitizer and facemasks—have been in particularly high demand (and short supply). This has driven prices up to a level where one may wonder whether they are abusive in the sense of […]

Reverse payment settlements in the European Union after the Generics (UK) judgment – perplexing legal uncertainty

On January 30th, the Court of Justice (“the Court”) released its judgment in the Generics (UK) case. In a preliminary ruling procedure, the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal asked the Court to provide guidance on how to interpret Article 101 TFEU with regard to patent settlements between pharmaceutical companies. The judgment has considerable legal significance as it represents the very first […]

2018:59 Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 9 March 2018 Case name (short version) Panalpina World Transport (Holding) and Others v Commission Case Citation C-271/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:59 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFUE — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Tariff agreement affecting the final price of services […]

Competition law and public procurement – an easy catch for competition enforcers?

If you ask what the common recent trends are among EU Member States in competition law enforcement, the answer surprisingly (or not) would be related not to digital economies but to public procurement. Lately national competition authorities had quite a fruitful harvest investigating competition law infringements in public procurement markets. Among them are, for example, the French, Italian, Dutch, Hellenic, […]

The return of the MFN clauses – platform ranking as an enforcement mechanism for price parity

The MFN cases of the past few years have delivered a series of uncoordinated cases that created a fragmented approach towards MFN clauses. Nowadays it would appear that there is a growing consensus in Europe that wide MFN clauses should be prohibited which, also led major platform like Expedia to abandon these pricing strategies. The recent claim put forward by […]

Collusive conduct in financial instruments trading: a look at the issues of dealing via chatrooms

Following the benchmark currency rate manipulation scandal, the banking sector has had no chance to restore their reputation. Lately, major EU banks have been having competition law issues because of their traders’ collusive behaviour in the bond and global foreign exchange (FX) markets. Two Statements of Objections concerning bond cartels and collusive conduct by certain traders have been issued recently […]

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