Competition law Blog

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

The CoRe Blog is the interactive online platform for up-to-date analysis of EU competition law developments. It’s the blog companion of the quarterly double blind peer-reviewed European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (CoRe). The CoRe Blog fills in the gaps that a 4-times-a-year journal can’t address: immediate updates and analysis of breaking news in EU competition and regulatory law and the opportunity to discuss these developments directly with other experts through our Comments section.

We want to hear what you think about the hot topics in EU competition and regulatory law. So share your thoughts in the Comments section of every blog post or submit your own post (500-2000 words) as an external author. The author of the most popular blog post in the last quarter will be published in the CoRe journal and get a free copy of an issue of their choice.

 

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. […]

The antitrust books you should’ve read in 2021 [part 2]

Competition Blogs - 3
In a CoRe Blog post last month, I introduced the first three ‘antitrust books you should’ve read in 2021’. In this second instalment, I take a look at the next and final three books. Antitrust takes a political–historical look at the evolution of U.S. antitrust law, while How Antitrust Failed Workers zooms in on issues of labour market power. One […]

The antitrust books you should’ve read in 2021 [part 1]

Following yearly tradition, I’m happy to present the antitrust books you should have read last year. In each of the 2019 and 2020 editions, I expressed surprise at the exceptional amount of competition law publishing, and this year is no different. Looking for explanations for this extended anomaly, two candidates emerge: either I wasn’t paying close enough attention before and […]

The Apple App Store case in the Netherlands – a potential game changer

Just before 2021 ended, Apple suffered a loss in the Netherlands where a national court in preliminary relief proceedings struck down its attempt to block the remedies imposed by the Dutch competition authority following a finding of abuse of dominance. As a result, as of last weekend, Apple is forced to accept third-party payment solutions implemented in (paid) dating apps […]

Spielberg’s antitrust: Netflix, Amazon and the Draft Digital Markets Act

The recent legislative reform proposals presented by the European Commission (“EC”) have revived the debate on how Competition Law should deal with potentially abusive conduct in digital markets. Drawing upon the case law concerning violations of Art. 102 TFEU, the draft Digital Markets Act (“Draft DMA”) tries to re-design the structure of digital markets by codifying a series of dos […]

A Different View of Platform Regulation: Reviewing Josh Hawley’s ‘The Tyranny of Big Tech’

Competition Blogs - State Aid Uncovered SM posts 33
The United States is quickly catching up with the European Union when it comes to tech regulation. The latest example is the proposed Open App Markets Act. While the bill’s provisions deserve discussion, one feature stands out: that it is was introduced by senators from both major parties. While Democrats and Republicans are not known for agreeing on much, the […]

The Commission’s Article 22 EUMR Guidance: catching killer acquisitions through the merger referral procedure?

Over the past five years, the EU’s merger control regime has been hotly debated. The main concern driving the debate has been the intensive acquisition activity in the tech and pharmaceutical sectors. However, many of those acquisitions escape the jurisdictional thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) and therefore cannot be reviewed by the European Commission (EC). On 26 March […]

Online platforms and the essential facility doctrine – a status update following Slovak Telekom and the DMA

The recent judgment of the CJEU in Slovak Telekom provides important guidance on the application of the Bronner case law in cases concerning abusive market access obstacles. Such guidance is of particular value in the context of online platforms, where issues of access have been considered being unsolvable because of the stringent criteria of the refusal to supply case law. […]

A role for competition policy in fighting gender inequality: not a matter of if, but how

Competition policy is normally thought to be fit at promoting and protecting effective competition in markets, this way enhancing efficient outcomes to the benefit of consumers. As a result, while one may point to some indicia on the relevance of other public interests and values (let us consider, for instance, Articles 101(3) and 106 of the Treaty on the Functioning […]

“Three Great Mountains” for the Chinese State-Owned Investments in the European Union

In April of 1948, Chairman Mao Zedong in his speech to a conference of political cadres mentioned the “three great mountains” that need to be overcome by the revolutionary forces: imperialism, feudalism and crony capitalism. The commentators of the current affairs argued that the current Chinese leadership is facing the “three great mountains” of pandemic containment, post-pandemic economic recovery and […]
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 >>

2018:773 Infineon Technologies AG v European Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 26 September 2018 Case name (short version) Infineon Technologies AG v European Commission Case Citation C-99/ 17 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:773 Key words Appeal — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — European market for smart card chips — Network of bilateral contacts — Exchanges of commercially sensitive information — Challenge of the authenticity of […]

2018:373 Agria Polsk sp. z o.o. and Others v European Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 20 September 2018 Case name (short version) Agria Polska sp. z o.o. and Others v European Commission Case Citation C-373/17 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:756 Key words Appeal — Competition — Rejection of a complaint by the European Commission — Lack of Union interest Basic context By their appeal, Agria Polska sp. z o.o., Agria […]

2018:58 Schenker Ltd v European Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 9 March 2018 Case name (short version) Schenker Ltd v European Commission Case Citation C-263/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:58 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFEU — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Pricing agreement affecting the final price of the services Basic context By its appeal, Schenker Ltd (‘Schenker […]

2018:60 Deutsche Bahn and Others v Commission

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 1 February 2018 Case name (short version) Deutsche Bahn and Others v Commission Case Citation C-264/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:60 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFEU — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Pricing agreement affecting the final price of the services Basic context By their appeal, Deutsche Bahn AG, Schenker […]

2018:590 Orange Polska v Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 25 July 2018 Case name (short version) Orange Polska v Commission Case Citation C-123/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018: 590 Key words Appeal — Competition — Article 102 TFEU — Abuse of dominant position — Polish wholesale market for fixed broadband internet access — Refusal to give access to the network and to supply wholesale […]

2018:270 MEO – Serviços de Comuniçações e Multimédia SA v Autoridade da Concorrência

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 19 April 2018 Case name (short version) MEO – Serviços de Comuniçações e Multimédia SA v Autoridade da Concorrência Case Citation C-525/16 ECLI:EU:C:2018:270 Key words Reference for a preliminary ruling — Competition — Abuse of dominant position — Subparagraph (c) of the second paragraph of Article 102 TFEU — Concept of ‘competitive […]

2017:753 Marine Harvest ASA v Commission

  Court General Court Date of ruling 24 November 2017 Case name (short version) Marine Harvest ASA v Commission Case Citation Case T-704/14 ECLI:EU:T:2017:753 Key words Appeal — Competition — Concentrations — Decision imposing a fine for putting into effect a concentration prior to its notification and authorisation — Article 4(1), Article 7(1) and (2) and Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No […]

2017:643 Austria Asphalt GmbH & Co OG v Bundeskartellanwalt

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 7 September 2017 Case name (short version) Austria Asphalt GmbH & Co OG v Bundeskartellanwalt Case Citation ECLI:EU:C:2017:643 C-248/16 Key words Reference for a preliminary ruling — Competition — Concentrations between undertakings — Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 — Article 3(1)(b) and (4) — Scope — Definition of ‘concentration’ — Change in the […]

2017:1008 Trioplast Industrier v Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 20 December 2017 Case name (short version) Trioplast Industrier v Commission Case Citation ECLI:EU:C:2017:1008 C-364/16 P Key words Appeal — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Market in industrial plastic bags — Formal notice from the European Commission to the appellant for the payment of default interest on the amount of the […]

2018:371 Ernst & Young v Konkurrenceradet

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 31 May 2018 Case name (short version) Ernst & Young P/S v Konkurrenceradet Case Citation C-633/16 ECLI:EU:C:2018:371 Key words Reference for a preliminary ruling — Control of concentrations of undertakings — Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 — Article 7(1) — Implementation of a concentration prior to notification to the European Commission and declaration of […]

The Commission’s Article 22 EUMR Guidance: catching killer acquisitions through the merger referral procedure?

Over the past five years, the EU’s merger control regime has been hotly debated. The main concern driving the debate has been the intensive acquisition activity in the tech and pharmaceutical sectors. However, many of those acquisitions escape the jurisdictional thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) and therefore cannot be reviewed by the European Commission (EC). On 26 March […]

Online platforms and the essential facility doctrine – a status update following Slovak Telekom and the DMA

The recent judgment of the CJEU in Slovak Telekom provides important guidance on the application of the Bronner case law in cases concerning abusive market access obstacles. Such guidance is of particular value in the context of online platforms, where issues of access have been considered being unsolvable because of the stringent criteria of the refusal to supply case law. […]

A role for competition policy in fighting gender inequality: not a matter of if, but how

Competition policy is normally thought to be fit at promoting and protecting effective competition in markets, this way enhancing efficient outcomes to the benefit of consumers. As a result, while one may point to some indicia on the relevance of other public interests and values (let us consider, for instance, Articles 101(3) and 106 of the Treaty on the Functioning […]

“Three Great Mountains” for the Chinese State-Owned Investments in the European Union

In April of 1948, Chairman Mao Zedong in his speech to a conference of political cadres mentioned the “three great mountains” that need to be overcome by the revolutionary forces: imperialism, feudalism and crony capitalism. The commentators of the current affairs argued that the current Chinese leadership is facing the “three great mountains” of pandemic containment, post-pandemic economic recovery and […]

The antitrust books you should’ve read in 2020 [part 2]

In a CoRe Blog post last month, I introduced the first three ‘antitrust books you should’ve read in 2020’. In this second instalment, I take a look at the next and final three books. Two books, Big Tech and the Digital Economy and Controlling Mergers and Market Power, offer fresh and thoughtful analyses of two crucial but controversial branches of […]

The antitrust books you should’ve read in 2020 [part 1]

One year ago, I wrote The Antitrust Books You Should’ve Read in 2019. In the conclusion, I looked ahead to books to be published in 2020. Given the many books that were already announced, I remarked that ‘the question will be where to find the time to read them all.’ The past year gave us the answer: stuck at home, […]

Pricing algorithms and competition: what competitive concerns do pricing algorithms raise?

Introduction Through Big Data and increasing digitalisation of commerce, algorithmic pricing (AP) has become a staple of markets globally. While this increased prevalence has produced a multitude of procompetitive market outcomes – for example, increased supply-side and demand-side efficiencies – there exists palpable academic and administrative concern that AP may greater facilitate the emergence of collusion in digital markets. In […]

Why you (often) don’t need the essential facility doctrine in the digital economy? – Interpreting Lithuanian Railways and Slovak Telekom

The insights from Lithuanian Railways and Slovak Telekom may have serious implications for the application of the Oscar Bronner case law in the future. These insights may prove, however, to have the most value in the digital economy where it would appear that the essential facility doctrine might often not even be needed – not even in the case of […]

Lithuanian Railways and Slovak Telecom – Implications for the Essential Facility Doctrine

The recent cases of Lithuanian Railways and Slovak Telekom address the matter of refusal to deal. Both cases, which do not engage in the assessment of this abuse, in fact, provide important guidance on the scope of application of the essential facility doctrine for current practice that will be covered in this post. Refusals to deal and the essential facility […]

Epic v Apple (3): two perspectives on app stores’ 30% commission fee

In a first blog post in this Epic v Apple series, we introduced the high-stakes dispute and the context necessary for understanding it. A second blog post discussed market power in app distribution and access to Apple and Google’s ecosystems under refusal to supply/foreclosure theories of harm. This third post zooms in on the most contentious feature of Apple’s App […]

Do you want to share your analysis of a competition or regulatory law topic with the readers of the CoRe Blog? We invite you to submit your post on, for example: recent European, national or international judgments or legislation with relevance to EU competition law; new developments, publications, hot topics in EU competition law. The recommended length of the post is 500-2,000 words incl. references (endnotes). Your analysis will be published under the category ‘Feature’.

Here’s how you can publish a post on the CoRe Blog as a guest author:

Step 1: Submit your draft post as a Word file to coreblog[at]lexxion.eu.

Step 2: The CoRe Blog editors will review your draft to make sure its content and quality fit the blog. If needed, they will suggest what improvements you should make.

Step 3: Once your draft has been finalized and accepted, Lexxion will publish the post on the CoRe Blog

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