Competition Weekly e-news

The Commission takes note of today’s judgement of the General Court. With this ruling, the Court confirmed the Commission's decision to designate ByteDance as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act with respect to its TikTok online social networking service.
The Commission will now carefully study the judgement.
We will continue working with ByteDance, like all other gatekeepers, to ensure full compliance with the Digital Markets Act.
See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).

The Commission is now revising the agricultural de minimis Regulation to react to increasing inflationary pressure in the sector. It is proposing to adjust the de minimis threshold to inflation and to also increase the national caps. It also proposes to improve transparency by introducing a mandatory de minimis register, which will reduce administrative burden on farmers who currently use a self-declaration system.
All citizens, organisations and public authorities are welcome to contribute to this consultation. Contributions are particularly sought from national authorities dealing with measures covered by Commission Regulation (EU) No 1408/2013 of 18 December 2013 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid in the agriculture sector (‘agricultural de minimis Regulation’).
See also the Commission's press release.

The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation to seek feedback from the business community and public authorities on a proposed new procedure aimed to give public access to judicial procedures to challenge specific decisions on State aid measures that allegedly contravene EU environmental law. 
The Commission is seeking feedback on the impact of the proposed procedure on EU policies, as well as on investment decisions and projects implementation by the business community. The targeted consultation will also gather information on the cost implications and administrative burden of the new procedure for businesses and Member States.

The Commission is publishing for consultation the draft Land and Multimodal Transport Guidelines (LMTG) and Transport Block Exemption Regulation (TBER).
The proposals follow the conclusions of the Fitness Check on the existing State aid rules in the field of land transport sector that showed that adjustments were needed to reflect market developments and the current EU's strategic priorities, including the European Green Deal.
See also the EC press release.

The European Commission is launching a call for tenders for a study into interoperability tools in the digital single market in the context of the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
With this study the contractor will map out the technical challenges and solutions for ensuring horizontal interoperability between number-independent interpersonal communication services with a particular focus on evaluating the merits of a potential extension of this obligation to online social networking services. The study should therefore offer practical recommendations based on the latest developments in horizontal interoperability within the context of the implementation of the DMA.

From EVP Vestager's speech at DG COMP's conference "Protecting competition in a changing world",
Brussels, 27 June 2024.
[...] "We are inviting all students in the EU to take part in a student challenge. Here's what you have to do: listen to the panels of today's conference. Next, we ask you to choose one panel, pick one theme, and imagine what your contribution to this discussion would be. Ask yourself, “if I were up on that stage, what would I be saying right now?” Consider: What are the implications of the report's findings for antitrust and merger control? Are these different for State aid policy? How do changes in the state of competition impact the EU's competitiveness?
We invite students to contribute with no more than 300 words, and submit it to us before the deadline, which is September 20.
The best entries will be invited to return in October to accept the winning prize, where I will have the pleasure of meeting them and discuss their views in more detail. So, in fact, this is really a prize for me, because I get to hear from brilliant student voices, who will bring a fresh perspective to the table."