	Competition Weekly e-news
	Cases, Judgments, News

In this issue - 16 July 2018
Conferences/Speeches Competition Mergers		State aid Court

Conferences/Speeches

Statement by Commissioner Vestager at ITRE Committee

Statement by Commissioner Margrethe Vestager,
European Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE),
Brussels, 09 July 2018
"Europe has strong legs to stand on in the world. More people in the EU have jobs than ever before. Of the twenty most innovative countries in the world, ten are European. Together, we must keep that momentum.Competition policy will do its bit. I look forward to the debate."

Competition

COMP@60 - Digital publication on 60 years of EU Competition Policy

COMP@60 - Digital publication on 60 years of EU Competition Policy launched this week.

Mergers

13 July 2018

Commission opens in-depth investigation into Siemens proposed acquisition of Alstom

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed acquisition of Alstom by Siemens, under the EU Merger Regulation. The Commission is concerned that the merger may reduce competition in the supply of several types of trains and signalling systems.

12 July 2018

Commission approves acquisition of LaudaMotion by Ryanair

The European Commission has approved unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of LaudaMotion by Ryanair. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns in the European Economic Area.

9 July 2018

Commission approves acquisition of UPC Austria by T-Mobile Austria

The European Commission has approved unconditionally under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of UPC Austria by T-Mobile Austria. The Commission concluded that the transaction would raise no competition concerns as the companies' activities and assets are largely complementary.

State aid

12 July 2018

Commission approves public funding for five ferry connections between Croatian islands and mainland

The European Commission has found Croatian plans to grant HRK 250 million (€34 million) to ensure regular ferry connections on five routes between Croatian islands and the mainland to be in line with EU State aid rules. The public funding will contribute to the connectivity and development of the islands without unduly distorting competition in the Single Market.

10 July 2018

Spain needs to recover around €167 million of incompatible aid from postal operator Correos

The European Commission has found that Correos, the publicly-owned Spanish postal operator, was overcompensated for the delivery of its universal postal service obligation between 2004 and 2010, and also benefited from incompatible tax exemptions. Spain now has to recover around €167 million from Correos.

Court

13 July 2018

Case T-58/14 - Stührk Delikatessen Import vs. European Commission

The Commission welcomes the courts judgment in this case, as the general court confirmed the existence and scope of the infringement that was established in the Commission Decision C(2013) 8286 of 27.11.2013 in Case AT.39963 – Shrimps. At the same time the fine is annulled for Stührk, but it remains fully intact for the other addressees that have not contested it in Court or that have already seen their application for annulment rejected in Court (See Judgment of 08.09.2016 in Case T-54/14, Goldfish v. Commission).

12 July 2018

Cases T-419/14,T-422/14,T-438/14,T-439/14,T-441/14,T-444-451/14,T-455/14,T-475/14 Power cable cases

The Commission welcomes the 15 judgments from the General Court in the Power Cables cartel case. In today's judgements, the General Court dismisses all actions brought by the participants to the cartel in their entirety. The fines of over €300 million which the Commission had imposed on the main European and Asian producers of (extra) high voltage power cables for their participation in a worldwide cartel have been fully confirmed. The Commission welcomes in particular those judgements which approve the practice of continued inspections on Commission premises. The Commission also welcomes the judgments of the General Court which treat institutional investors like other corporate parents, by attributing parental liability to them in the same way.

CURIA website to retrieve the cases

11 July 2018

Cases T-185/15, T-186/15 - Buonotourist, CSTP Azienda della Mobilità vs. European Commission

The Commission welcomes the judgments by the General Court, which upholds its findings that certain subsidies granted by Italy to local bus operators Buonotourist and CSTP in the Campania region gave those companies an unfair advantage over competitors, in breach of EU State aid rules. Public financing of services of general economic interest is perfectly fine under EU law, as far as it compensates companies that have been entrusted with public service obligations for a genuine additional burden linked to the delivery of these services. However, the parameters for calculating the level of compensation must be established in advance, in an objective and transparent manner. This was not the case for the compensation in question, which was requested and fixed several years after the services had been rendered and did not correspond to any identifiable additional burden linked to those services.

Case T-185/15 Buonotourist
Case T-186/15 CSTP Azienda della Mobilità

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Published by the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the above information.

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