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Mergers
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19/10/2023
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Commission approves acquisition of Seagen by Pfizer
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The European Commission has unconditionally approved the proposed acquisition of Seagen by Pfizer, under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area.
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Antitrust
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19/10/2023
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Commission fines pharma companies €13,4 million in antitrust cartel settlement
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The European Commission has fined Alkaloids of Australia, Alkaloids Corporation, Boehringer, Linnea and Transo-Pharm a total of €13,4 million for participating in a cartel concerning an important pharmaceutical ingredient. C2 PHARMA was not fined as it revealed the cartel to the Commission under the leniency programme. All six companies admitted their involvement in the cartel and agreed to settle the case.
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17/10/2023
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Commission carries out unannounced antitrust inspections in the construction chemicals sector
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The European Commission is carrying out unannounced antitrust inspections at the premises of companies active in the construction chemicals sector in several Member States.
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Conferences/Speeches
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18/10/2023
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Developments in EU Competition Policy
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Speech by Commissioner Didier Reynders at 22nd ICN Annual Conference,
Barcelona, 18 October 2023.
[...] "
But “fit for purpose” also means that competition enforcement has to fit market realities. And those realities have changed: digital services are everywhere, monetary payments are no longer the norm and data has become a valuable input. [...]"
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17/10/2023
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Working towards a global ‘Level-Playing Field’
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Speech by Director-General Olivier Guersent at Competition Day,
Barcelona, 17 October 2023.
[...] "
because by embracing change we have the chance to shape it in a more positive direction. All of our policy work is about doing just that: keeping us open, fair and competitive, so that Europe can continue to play its part in a more prosperous, more just and more peaceful, global future."
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Events
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20/10/2023
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Watch the debate of the third "How can we make markets fairer?" series
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Today, October 20th, the third episode of the series “How can we make markets fairer?” took place in Salamanca, Spain.
In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate.
More episodes of the How can we make markets fairer? series will come, so watch this space!
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Court
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19/10/2023
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Ministar na zemedelieto, hranite i gorite
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The Commission takes note of today’s preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, which clarifies the notion of undertaking under EU State aid rules and on economic activities carried out by beneficiaries of State aid. The preliminary ruling stems from questions submitted by the Administrativen sad, Varna (“Administrative Court, Varna, Bulgaria”), referred under Article 267 TFEU.
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18/10/2023
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Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Cephalon v Commission
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The Commission takes note of the judgment of the General Court. In its judgment, the General Court dismissed an action for annulment against a 2020 Commission decision. In its decision, the Commission imposed a total fine of around €60.5 million on Teva and Cephalon for agreeing to delay the market entry of a generic version of Cephalon's drug for sleep disorders, modafinil, after Cephalon's main patent had expired.
In its judgment, the General Court fully upheld the Commission’s assessment and decision.
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18/10/2023
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Clariant and Clariant International v Commission
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The Commission takes note of the judgment of the General Court. In its judgment, the Court dismissed Clariant’s appeal against a 2020 Commission decision imposing a fine of around €156 million on Clariant for participating in a cartel in the chemical sector.
In its judgment, the General Court fully upheld the Commission’s assessment in the decision.
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18/10/2023
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Wizz Air Hungary v Commission (TAROM ; COVID-19)
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgment by the General Court, upholding in full a 2020 Commission decision.
In its decision, the Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, a €19.3 million Romanian loan guarantee to compensate TAROM for damage suffered between 16 March and 30 June 2020 due to travel restrictions and other containment measures linked to the coronavirus outbreak.
The General Court’s judgment confirms that the Commission was right to consider that the contested measure was compatible with the internal market, and in particular that it was proportionate to the damage suffered by TAROM.
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18/10/2023
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Ryanair v Commission (airBaltic ; COVID-19)
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the General Court, upholding in full a 2020 Commission State aid decision.
In its decision, the Commission approved, under the State aid COVID Framework, a Latvian €250 million equity injection to support airBaltic.
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18/10/2023
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Ryanair v Commission (Brussels Airlines ; COVID-19)
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the General Court, upholding in full a 2020 Commission decision.
In its decision, the Commission approved, under the State aid COVID Temporary Framework, a Belgian €287 million loan and equity injection of around €3 million to support SN Group, which is composed of SN Airholding and its sole subsidiary Brussels Airlines.
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18/10/2023
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Ryanair v Commission (Nordica ; COVID-19)
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the General Court, upholding in full a 2020 Commission decision.
In its decision, the Commission approved, under the State aid COVID Temporary Framework, an Estonian €22 million recapitalisation and a loan with subsidised interest of €8 million to support the aviation company Nordica.
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18/10/2023
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Ryanair v Commission (Alitalia I & II ; COVID-19)
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgments by the General Court, upholding in full two 2020 Commission decisions.
In its decisions, the Commission approved, under EU State aid rules, two Italian measures, respectively of €199.45 million and €73.02 million, to compensate Alitalia for the damages suffered between 1 March and 15 June 2020 and between 16 June and 31 December due to travel restrictions and other containment measures linked to the coronavirus outbreak.
The General Court’s judgments confirm that the Commission was right to consider that the contested measures were compatible with the internal market, and in particular that they were proportionate to the damage suffered by Alitalia during the respective time periods.
The General Court also confirms that the Commission did not misuse its powers and did not misapply EU State aid rules, by approving the Italian measures shortly after their notification to the Commission, while two ongoing investigations relating to aid measures granted to Alitalia in 2017 and 2019 were not concluded before the adoption of the contested decisions.
See also the Court's judgment in the second Alitalia case.
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Public consultations
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27/09/2023 - 06/11/2023
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Barriers for demand response participation in electricity markets and State aid support
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The European Commission is conducting a study to identify barriers for the participation of Demand Response to wholesale electricity markets and State Aid mechanisms in the EU27 Member States. The focus of the study is on the so-called explicit demand response, i.e., demand response services provided by consumption units directly competing with other technologies in wholesale electricity markets and SA mechanisms, either individually or through aggregators.
As part of the study, a survey is offered to collect opinions from stakeholders with respect to a number of topics.
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