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27 November
2020
3/2020
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Competition Weekly e-news
Cases, Judgments, News
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EU Competition
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DG COMP Website
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Mergers
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27/11/2020
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Commission clears Altice, Allianz and Omers' joint acquisition of Covage, subject to conditions
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The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Covage by SFR FTTH, a company jointly controlled by Altice, Allianz and Omers. The approval is conditional on full compliance with a commitments package offered by the Altice, Allianz and Omers.
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Antitrust
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26/11/2020
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Commission fines Teva and Cephalon €60.5 million for delaying entry of cheaper generic medicine
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The European Commission has fined the pharmaceutical companies Teva and Cephalon €60.5 million for agreeing to delay for several years the market entry of a cheaper generic version of Cephalon's drug for sleep disorders, modafinil, after Cephalon's main patents had expired. The agreement was concluded well before Cephalon became a subsidiary of Teva. The agreement violated EU antitrust rules and caused substantial harm to EU patients and healthcare systems by keeping prices high for modafinil.
See also:
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State aid
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25/11/2020
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Commission approves Austrian measures to support rail freight and passenger operators affected by the coronavirus outbreak
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The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, two Austrian measures supporting the rail freight sector and one measure supporting the rail passenger sector in the context of the coronavirus outbreak.
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25/11/2020
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Commission approves competitive tender mechanism to compensate for early closure of hard coal-fired power plants in Germany
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The European Commission found that a competitive tender mechanism introduced by Germany to compensate hard coal-fired power plants for phasing out earlier than foreseen promotes European Union climate objectives and is in line with State aid rules.
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24/11/2020
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Commission approves €120 million Luxembourg scheme to support uncovered fixed costs of companies affected by coronavirus outbreak
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The European Commission has approved a Luxembourg State aid scheme to support the uncovered fixed costs of companies affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Framework.
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Court
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25/11/2020
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Commission v GEA Group
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The Commission takes note of the judgment by the Court of Justice relating to the Heat Stabilisers cartel case. The ruling concerns the Commission's appeal against the judgment of the General Court of 18 October 2018 (Case T 640/16).
The Court of Justice upheld the Commission's appeal, annulled the judgment of the General Court and referred the matter back to the General Court to decide on the remaining pleas.
The judgment clarifies the nature and purpose of joint and several liability when setting the fine, in line with what the Commission had argued.
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25/11/2020
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SABAM
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The court ruled on a request for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Article 102 TFEU in combination with Article 16 of Directive 2014/26/EU on collective management of copyright and related rights. The Court confirmed that the imposition of a tariff system on organisers of musical events for the use of copyright-protected works based on gross income from ticket sales by a copyright collecting company that has a de-facto monopoly in a Member State does not constitute an abuse of dominant position within the meaning of Article 102 TFEU.
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24/11/2020
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Wikingerhof
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The Commission takes note of today's ruling of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in relation to Booking.com.
The judgment contributes to bringing competition law closer to those who seek redress, when a company is alleged to have abused its dominant position.
By interpreting the applicable EU rules on jurisdiction in civil and commercial matters, the CJEU confirmed that that court proceedings may be brought before the national court located in the market affected by the alleged anti-competitive behaviour.
In this case, the CJEU considers that Wikingerhof, a hotel company operating in Germany, may bring legal proceedings against Booking.com in Germany, the country where a potential anti-competitive practice took place, and not in the Netherlands, where Booking.com is registered.
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24/11/2020
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Viasat Broadcasting UK
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The Commission takes note of today's preliminary ruling by the European Court of Justice in the context of national court proceedings in the Danish TV 2 case.
The preliminary ruling was rendered following a legal question referred by the High Court of Eastern Denmark to the ECJ on whether Danish public service broadcaster should be required to pay "illegality interests" on the State aid received prior to its notification by Denmark to the Commission. The Court found that the obligation to pay "illegality interest", which is based on a failure to notify aid in contravention of the notification requirement set out in the Treaty, also applies to aid granted without prior notification but in line with Article 106(2) TFEU to an undertaking entrusted by with the operation of a service of general economic interest.
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Public consultations
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08/09/2020 - 05/01/2021
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Evaluation of State aid rules for broadband infrastructure deployment
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The purpose of the public consultation is to assess whether the Broadband State aid Guidelines and the relevant GBER provisions have met their objectives, what effect they have had on the market and on competition, and whether they need to be updated in light of recent technological and market developments and the new EU digital policy goals. In the consultation, the Commission aims at assessing the effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, relevance and EU added value of the existing rules, in line with the Better Regulation requirements.
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12/11/2020 - 07/01/2021
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Revision of the Energy and Environmental Aid Guidelines (EEAG)
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A Fitness Check on the State aid modernisation package has been carried out. The results of this evaluation, which largely covered the time before the COVID-19 pandemic and the introduction of the twin transition, show that the EEAG and corresponding GBER rules have generally delivered on their objectives. However, it identified certain aspects where the EEAG should be modernised in a way that minimises distortions of trade and competition in the Single Market. Furthermore, the announcement of the Green Deal requires a wider and deeper review of the EEAG, in particular in the two areas mentioned below.
This initiative is guided by the general main objective of coherence with the twin green and digital transformation of the economy. The revision should result in a modernised, simplified, easy to apply and future-proof enabling framework for public authorities to help reaching the EU environmental and energy objectives in a cost effective manner with minimum distortions of competition and trade within the Union. The two main buildings blocks are a review of the compatibility criteria for environmental protection, as well as an assessment of State aid to energy intensive users.
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15/09/2020 - 15/01/2021
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Call for proposals: Training of national judges in EU Competition Law
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The new call for proposals focuses on EU competition law trainings addressing national judges dealing with competition cases at national level. This also includes prosecutors, apprentice national judges and the staff of national courts of eligible countries.
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12/10/2020 - 25/01/2021
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EU automotive sector – exemption from antitrust rules (review)
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EU antitrust rules usually ban vertical agreements and concerted practices, which are likely to restrict competition in a given sector. There is currently an exemption for certain agreements and practices in the automotive sector, but this expires on 31 May 2023. This evaluation will check whether the exemption is still effective, efficient, and consistent with other EU and national rules.
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New legislation
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