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Antitrust

Court

State aid

Public consultations

Antitrust

28/01/2021

Commission opens formal investigation into possible trade restrictions by Mondelēz

The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Mondelēz has restricted competition in a range of national markets for chocolate, biscuits and coffee by hindering the cross-border trade of these products between EU Member States, which would be in breach of EU antitrust rules.

State aid

28/01/2021

Commission prolongs and further expands Temporary Framework to support economy in context of coronavirus outbreak

The European Commission has decided to prolong until 31 December 2021 the State aid Temporary Framework adopted on 19 March 2020 to support the economy in the context of the coronavirus outbreak. The Commission has also decided to expand the scope of the Temporary Framework by increasing the ceilings set out in it and by allowing the conversion of certain repayable instruments into direct grants until the end of next year.

26/01/2021

Commission approves €2.9 billion public support by twelve Member States for a second pan-European research and innovation project along the entire battery value chain

The Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a second Important Project of Common European Interest ("IPCEI") to support research and innovation in the battery value chain. The project, called "European Battery Innovation" was jointly prepared and notified by Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.

See also Statement by Executive Vice President Vestager.

Court

28/01/2021

Qualcomm and Qualcomm Europe v Commission

The Commission takes note of the Court's judgment which fully upholds the General Court's judgment of 9 April 2019 in relation to the Qualcomm predation case.

The judgment confirms that the request for information that the Commission sent on 31 March 2017 in the context of the Commission investigation into Qualcomm's abuse of dominance in 3G baseband chipsets was lawful.

27/01/2021

KPN v Commission

The Commission takes note of the judgment of the General Court dismissing KPN's action challenging the Commission's decision of 30 May 2018 approving of the acquisition of Ziggo by Liberty Global, subject to conditions.

27/01/2021

The Goldman Sachs Group v Commission

The Commission takes note of the judgment of the Court of Justice (CJEU) dismissing on the appeal of Goldman Sachs against the judgment of the General Court of 12 July 2018 that upheld the Commission Decision relating to the Power Cables cartel. The CJEU upheld in full the judgment of the General Court.

The Commission will carefully examine the judgment.

Public consultations

15/09/2020 - 31/01/2021

Call for proposals: Training of national judges in EU Competition Law

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.

06/01/2021 - 03/02/2021

Collective bargaining agreements for self-employed – scope of application EU competition rules

This initiative aims to define EU competition law’s scope of application, to enable an improvement of working conditions through collective bargaining agreements – not only for employees, but also, under some circumstances, for the solo self-employed.

18/12/2020 - 26/03/2021

EU competition rules – revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation

The Vertical Block Exemption Regulation expires on 31 May 2022. The Regulation exempts agreements between different levels of the same supply chain from the EU’s competition rules.

In a business environment reshaped notably by the growth of e-commerce, this initiative aims to revise the rules to:

provide up-to-date guidance
cater for business needs in accordance with competition rules.

The aim is to have revised rules in place for when the current rules expire.

22/01/2021 - 16/04/2021

Consultation on the Notice on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts

Public authorities, citizens, companies and organisations are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from the national courts and authorities dealing with State aid, academics and lawyers.

Other relevant information:

Commission Decisions

SA Block exemptions

European Economic Area: EFTA State aid register, EFTA Block exemption information sheets and EFTA competition cases

Court: Judicial calendar of the Court

Miscellanea: European Commission Press corner: Latest Daily News and Base rates in force

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Published by the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the above information.

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