Competition Weekly e-news

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €460 million Spanish measure to support ArcelorMittal España (‘ArcelorMittal') in partially decarbonising its steel production processes. The measure will contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal targets, while helping to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €55 million German measure to support ArcelorMittal Hamburg GmbH (‘ArcelorMittal') in building a demonstration plant for the production of green steel using renewable hydrogen. The measure will contribute to the achievement of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal targets, while helping to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition in line with the REPowerEU Plan.

The European Commission has found a French support measure of up to €1.4 billion in favour of Air France to be in line with EU State aid rules. The measure aims at compensating the airline for the damage suffered between 17 March and 30 June 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions in place to limit the spread of the virus.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €259 million Romanian scheme, made available in part through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF'), to support investments in the production, assembly and recycling of batteries, of photovoltaic cells and of panels. The scheme aims at supporting Romania's regional development and fostering the EU's strategic objectives relating to the green transition.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €170 million Danish scheme to support the production of renewable hydrogen through Power-to-X (‘PtX') technologies. The measure aims to contribute to the development of renewable hydrogen in line with the objectives of the EU Hydrogen Strategy and the European Green Deal. The scheme will also contribute to the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels and fast forward the green transition.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €2.08 billion French measure to support offshore wind electricity production in France. The measure will contribute to achieving France's energy and environmental targets, as well as the objectives relating to the EU's Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy and the European Green Deal.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat. The Commission is concerned that the transaction may allow Viasat to reduce competition in the market for the supply of broadband in-flight connectivity (‘IFC') services to commercial airlines.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the creation of a joint venture by Deutsche Telekom AG Orange SA, Telefónica S.A. and Vodafone Group plc. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA').

You can follow the first Africa-EU Competition Conference : Towards fairer markets in Africa and the EU - Fostering international partnerships in competition policy hosted by the Le Collège d'Europe in Bruges, Belgium via Zoom (Password Africa-EU).

DG Competition will hold five debates in mid-sized towns and cities in different parts of Europe between spring 2023 and early 2024.
We are inviting local and national personalities to continue the conversation we started with the Making Markets Work for People conference. We will ask them to debate the ultimate economic and social impact of competition and competition policy on people’s lives The events are highly localised. The five speakers will include a political leader, an independent scholar, a colleague from the national competition authority and representatives from business and civil society or the media.
We will try to involve household names. The goal is extending the reach outside our usual competition audiences. The debates are open to the public onsite and online. They will be broadcast live and on demand.

Workshop of 27 February 2023 on “The DMA and interoperability between messaging services”  to discuss how to ensure effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
This workshop will address issues such as end-to-end encryption, security or the identification of users across different messaging services
The Commission believes it important for all stakeholders to provide their input and views on various implementation questions, whilst fully respecting the letter and the spirit of the Digital Markets Act.
The view of third parties, including but not exclusively of those who are potential beneficiaries of the Digital Markets Act, will be an important input in ensuring practicable, transparent, and effective compliance solutions.

Workshop of 6 March 2023 on“The DMA and app store related provisions” to discuss how to ensure effective compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
This workshop will address issues such as alternative in-app payment systems, steering and sideloading.
The view of third parties, including but not exclusively of those who are potential beneficiaries of the Digital Markets Act, will be an important input in ensuring practicable, transparent, and effective compliance solutions.

DG COMPETITION will celebrate twenty years of EU antitrust enforcement under Regulation 1/2003 with a conference that will bring together leading experts to discuss and reflect on the achievements, needs and challenges of the current antitrust procedural framework.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear insights and reflections from keynote speakers including enforcers, private practitioners, in-house counsels and academics, and participate in panel discussions.