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State aid
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30/01/2024
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Commission approves €1 billion German State aid schemes to improve animal welfare in livestock breeding
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The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, two German schemes with a total budget of around €1 billion to improve animal welfare standards in breeding of livestock, in particular pigs. The measures will contribute to the achievement of the EU's strategic objectives relating to the European Green Deal, the Common Agricultural Policy and the Farm to Fork Strategy.
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30/01/2024
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Commission opens in-depth State aid investigation into Swedish tax exemption schemes for non-food biogas and bio-propane
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The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether two Swedish tax exemption schemes for non-food-based biogas and bio-propane used for heating or as motor fuel are in line with EU State aid rules. The in-depth investigation follows the General Court's annulment of two previous Commission decisions approving the tax exemptions.
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30/01/2024
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Commission approves €550 million Italian State aid scheme to support investments for the use of hydrogen in industrial processes to foster the transition to a net-zero economy
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The European Commission has approved a €550 million Italian scheme to support investments for the use of hydrogen in industrial processes to foster the transition towards a net-zero economy, in line with the Green Deal Industrial Plan. The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023 and amended on 20 November 2023, to support measures in sectors which are key to accelerate the green transition and reduce fuel dependencies.
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Antitrust
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30/01/2024
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Commission carries out unannounced antitrust inspections in the tyres sector
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The European Commission is carrying out unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the tyres industry in several Member States.
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Mergers
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29/01/2024
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Statement by Executive Vice-President Vestager on announcement by Amazon and iRobot to abandon their transaction
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The Commission takes note of Amazon's and iRobot's decision to terminate their agreement according to which Amazon intended to acquire sole control over iRobot. The abandonment follows the findings of the Commission's in-depth investigation and the sending of a Statement of Objections on 27 November 2023.
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Competition
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29/01/2024
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EU and India meet during 6th Competition Week to reinforce cooperation on competition policy
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Officials and experts from the EU and India met online on 29 and 30 January 2024 to discuss and exchange good practices in competition policy and enforcement.
The annual EU-India Competition Week is part of the Competition Cooperation project, a 5-year EU-funded programme offering technical cooperation to competition authorities in Asia. It provides a platform for exchanges between the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition and the Competition Commission of India.
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Court
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01/02/2024
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Scania and Others v Commission
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The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, fully upholding a 2017 Commission's decision. In its decision, the Commission imposed a fine on Scania for its cartel activities in the Trucks sector. Scania’s fine was imposed a year after Daimler, Volvo/Renault, Iveco and DAF were also sanctioned for the same cartel. MAN received full immunity for revealing the existence of the cartel, thereby avoiding a fine. The Commission had adopted a separate decision for Scania because, unlike the other cartel participants, the company had decided not to settle the case.
See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).
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31/01/2024
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Italia Wanbao-ACC v Commission
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The Commission takes note of the judgment of the General Court annulling the 2020 Commission decision partially waiving the non-reacquisition clause under the commitments made by Nidec to obtain clearance of its acquisition of Embraco, Whirlpool’s refrigeration compressor business. On 16 April 2019, the Commission had approved the proposed acquisition, subject to a set of commitments.
The partial waiver concerned the non-reacquisition clause relating to a fixed speed household compressor manufacturing line (‘Delta line'), which was part of the divestment business that Nidec committed to sell under the commitments. Prior to the acquisition of Embraco, Nidec had planned to develop a variable speed compressor on the basis of the Delta line.
Upon receipt of the request from Nidec to waive the non-reacquisition clause of the commitments with regard to the Delta line, the Commission initiated a market investigation to determine whether a waiver is justified in light of the changed market conditions.
In its waiver decision, the Commission took into account that there had not been any competition concerns regarding the production of fixed speed compressors. Moreover, the Commission found that the structure of the relevant market for variable speed refrigeration compressors for household applications had changed to such an extent that the absence of influence over the concerned part of the divestment business was no longer necessary to render Nidec's acquisition of Embraco compatible with the internal market. On this basis, the Commission decided to approve Nidec's waiver request.
In today’s judgment, the General Court annulled the Commission’s decision because it found that the Commission erred in law. In particular, the Court found that the Commission failed to ascertain whether change in the structure of the relevant market, which justified the waiver, was a lasting one.
The Commission will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.
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Events
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30/01/2024
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State aid control and Industrial policy: irreconcilable or complementary? : watch the debate
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The fifth Let’s Talk Competition conversation focused on how State aid is being impacted by the revival of industrial policy goals. In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate.
More episodes of the Let’s Talk Competition series will come, so watch this space!
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Public consultations
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09/01/2024 - 11/03/2024
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Calls for contributions: Competition in Virtual Worlds and Generative AI
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The European Commission has launched today two calls for contributions on competition in virtual worlds and generative artificial intelligence (‘AI') and sent requests for information to several large digital players.
Interested parties are invited to submit their responses to the calls for contributions by 11 March 2024. Interested parties may contribute to one of those two calls for contributions, or to both, as they wish.
See also the Commission's press release.
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Open calls for tender
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28/11/2023 - 06/03/2024
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Training of national judges in EU competition law and judicial cooperation between national competition law judges
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The objective of this call for proposals is to co-finance projects aiming to train national judges in the context of enforcing European competition rules. This includes public and private enforcement of both the Antitrust rules and the State aid rules, thereby increasing the knowledge and know-how of national judges. The final aim is to ensure a coherent and consistent application of EU competition law by national courts.
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New legislation
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