Competition Weekly e-news

As we come to the end of a busy and eventful 2022, it’s a good moment to look back on what we did during the year to help Europe, and indeed Europeans, to thrive in challenging circumstances.
We will work equally hard next year, ready to face current challenges as well as new ones. In the meantime, we would like to wish you all a happy and prosperous 2023!

The European Commission has approved a €3 billion Polish scheme to support companies active in the Polish gas market in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU'), recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, amendments to a German scheme to support offshore wind energy generation in Germany (German Offshore Wind Energy Act - 'WindSeeG'). The scheme complements the German Renewable Energy Act (Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz – ‘EEG 2023') and will further contribute to achieving Germany's energy and environmental targets and the EU's strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €12 million Cypriot voucher scheme, made available in part through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF'), to help households access high-speed broadband services. The scheme is aimed at fostering the digitalisation of the country and will also contribute to the EU's strategic objectives relating to the digital transition.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the modification of a German scheme to support the production of electricity from renewable energy sources. The scheme reflects a recent amendment by Germany to its Renewable Energy Act (“Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz” – ‘EEG 2023'), and will further contribute to achieving Germany's energy and environmental targets and the EU's strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal.

The European Commission has approved a €49 billion German scheme to support the economy in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.

The European Commission has found the amendments to an existing Italian guarantee scheme, including an up to €23 billion budget increase, to support companies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine to be in line with the State Aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022. The overall budget of the measure is not over €33 billion.

The European Commission has approved a €1.1 billon (PLN 5.1 billion) Polish scheme to support particularly affected energy intensive companies in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022, based on Article 107(3)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU'), recognising that the EU economy is experiencing a serious disturbance.

The European Commission has approved a €80 million Finnish recapitalisation measure to support Meyer Turku Oy, the largest national shipyard in Finland, in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine pursuant to Article 107(3)(b) TFEU and in line with the principles set out in the Temporary Crisis Framework adopted by the Commission on 23 March 2022 and amended on 20 July 2022 and on 28 October 2022.

On 19th December 2022, the Council adopted a new regulation enabling the Commission to exempt Member States from prior notification to the Commission certain types of aid for rail, inland waterway and multimodal transport, with the objective of promoting green transport.
See also the EC's press release in July 2022, as well as the corresponding public consultation.

The European Commission has made commitments offered by Amazon legally binding under EU antitrust rules. Amazon's commitments address the Commission's competition concerns over Amazon's use of non-public marketplace seller data and over a possible bias in granting to sellers access to its Buy Box and its Prime programme.
See also Remarks by Executive Vice-President Vestager.

The European Commission has informed Meta of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the markets for online classified ads. The Commission takes issue with Meta tying its online classified ads service, Facebook Marketplace, to its personal social network, Facebook. The Commission is also concerned that Meta is imposing unfair trading conditions on Facebook Marketplace's competitors for its own benefit.

Protecting competition in technology markets, and innovation competition in particular, is crucial to today’s society. On December 13th, the Commission hosted a workshop on Digital Mergers which was attended by representatives of academia, the legal and business community, as well as the US Federal Trade Commission, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets and DG Competition.
The event's recording is available on the workshop's website.