Competition Weekly e-news

The European Commission has concluded that Blue Air's restructuring plan was not capable of restoring the airline's long-term viability and it is therefore incompatible with EU State aid rules. Romania must now recover from Blue Air illegal State aid amounting to approximately €33.84 million (RON 163.8 million).

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €720 million French scheme to support the forestry sector. The measure will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy by strengthening forest environmental protection.

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €4 billion German scheme made available in part through the Recovery and Resilience Facility (‘RRF') to help companies, which are subject to the EU Emission Trading System (‘ETS'), decarbonise their industrial production processes. The measure contributes to achieving Germany's climate and energy targets, as well as the EU's strategic objectives of the European Green Deal.

The Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a third Important Project of Common European Interest (‘IPCEI') to support hydrogen infrastructure. This IPCEI is expected to boost the supply of renewable hydrogen, thereby reducing dependency on natural gas and helping to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan.
See also Statement by Executive Vice-President Vestager.

The European Commission has concluded that the State guarantee model granted by Denmark and Sweden for the construction of the Øresund fixed rail-road link does not constitute new aid within the meaning of EU State aid rules. The Commission has also found that part of the tax support implemented by Denmark constitutes new aid that is disproportionate and therefore not compatible with the Treaty. Denmark must now recover the incompatible aid, including interest.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Asiana Airlines Inc. by Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the remedies offered by Korean Air.

The Commission has adopted decisions closing four market investigations that were launched on 5 September 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), finding that Apple and Microsoft should not be designated as gatekeepers for the following core platform services: Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s online search engine Bing, web browser Edge and online advertising service Microsoft Advertising.

The sixth episode of Let’s Talk Competition will focus on the recently adopted Market Definition Notice and the changes it has introduced to reflect today’s new market realities, such as digitalisation, as well as the developments in the Commission’s case practice.
Three renowned experts will participate in the discussion: Mr. Guillaume Loriot, DG Competition Deputy Director-General for Mergers; Ms. Aleksandra Boutin, Founding Partner of Positive Competition; Ms. Viktoria Robertson, Professor of Competition Policy and Digitalisation at the Vienna University and the College of Europe. Ms. Natalie McNelis, MLex Senior Correspondent for mergers, will moderate the debate.
The event will take place on 29 February 2024 at 13:00 (CET) and it will be webcasted on DG Competition website as well as in DG Competition YouTube channel. No registration is needed.

To mark the twentieth anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation (Regulation 139/2004), DG COMPETITION is organising a conference that will bring together leading experts to discuss and reflect on the impact of EU merger control over the last decades.
The event will be a full-day conference with keynote speeches, panels and a fireside chat, involving contributors from DG Competition, National Competition Authorities, judges, competition enforcement practitioners, in-house counsels and academics on a wide range of topics related to the main theme.