THE ECJ QUASHES THE COMMISSION DECISIONS RELATING TO REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION ADDRESSED TO CEMENT PRODUCERS FOR BEING INADEQUATELY REASONED

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On 10 March, the European Court of Justice delivered four judgments finding that the requests for information sent in 2011 by the Commission to a number of cement manufacturers, in the context of an infringement procedure, lacked an adequate statement of reasons and were therefore unlawful (see C‑247/14 P HeidelbergCement; C‑248/14 P Schwenk Zement; C‑267/14…

THE CATALAN COMPETITION AUTHORITY (ACCO) HAS IMPOSED A FINE OF 950,000 EUROS TO FOUR SUCCESSFUL BIDDERS IN THE AREA OF REHABILITATION SERVICES

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The four sanctioned companies are Fisioterapia, Iriteb, L’Eivax y Centro de Accidentes Laborales y Rehabilitación Gramenet (Carlg). The fines imposed are the following: Fisioterapia: 600,000 euros; Iriteb has been fined 240,000 euros, L’Eivax 80,000 euros and Carlg 30,000 euros. According to research conducted by ACCO, it has been concluded that after the public tender called…

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION ISSUES TWO STATEMENTS OF OBJECTIONS TO QUALCOMM

Abuse of Dominant Position, ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT, PUBLIC ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENTLeave a comment

The European Commission has issued two connected statements of objections to Qualcomm for exclusive dealings and predatory pricing, both potentially bringing about anti-competitive effects. The investigation against Qualcomm was opened in July 2015, when the Commission disclosed concerns about a possible abuse of dominant position by Qualcomm in the baseband chipset market. Eventually, at the…

THE COMMISSION LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION INTO MCDONALD’S TAX DEALS

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On 3 December, the Commission announced that it launched a formal investigation into Luxembourg’s tax treatment of McDonald’s. The investigation aims to verify the concerns that two tax rulings issued by Luxembourg in 2009 provided McDonald’s with an advantageous tax treatment in violation of EU state aid rules. According to the preliminary observations of the…

THE COMMISSION ANNNOUNCES ITS DECISIONS ON TAX RULINGS ISSUED BY LUXEMBOURG AND THE NETHERLANDS

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On 21 October, the Commission announced its decisions whereby Luxembourg and Netherlands are found to have violated EU state aid rules, as they granted selective tax advantages to Fiat Finance and Trade and Starbucks respectively by issuing tax rulings artificially lowering the tax paid by the companies. These decisions followed in-depth investigations that were opened…

THE ECJ ISSUES THE POST DANMARK JUDGMENT CONCERNING THE REBATE SCHEME’S COMPATIBILITY WITH ARTICLE 102

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On 6 October the European Court of Justice delivered the Post Danmark judgement in which it gave a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of a rebate scheme under Article 102 TFEU. In 2007 and 2008 Post Danmark A/S implemented a retroactive rebate scheme in the context of distribution of bulk advertising mail to recipients in…

The General Court rules on cartel fines for Toshiba and Panasonic imposed in relation to cathode ray tubes sector

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On 9 September the General Court issued the judgments reducing the fines imposed by the Commission in 2012 (Case COMP/39.437) on Panasonic and Toshiba for their involvement in a cartel on the European market for picture tubes for television sets. Following the leniency application submitted by Chunghwa, the Commission imposed in the contested decision the…

THE COMMISSION FILES STATEMENT OF OBJECTIONS IN THE PAY-TV SERVICES PROCEEDINGS AGAINST SKY UK AND US FILM STUDIOS

ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT, Cartels, Market Partitioning, Open Proceeding, PUBLIC ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENTLeave a comment

On 23 July, the European Commission has filed a formal Statement of Objections against Sky UK and six major US film studios (Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Warner Bros), having preliminarily determined that their bilateral licensing agreements containing clauses that inhibit access to pay-TV services for consumers located outside the UK and…

THE ECJ’S JUDGMENT IN THE LCD PANELS CARTEL CASE UPHOLDS THE €288 MILLION FINE IMPOSED ON INNOLUX

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The judgment rendered by the Court of Justice on 9 July 2015 dismisses in its entirety the appeal by InnoLux seeking a reduction in the amount of the fine imposed for its involvement in the cartel concerning LCD panels. In December 2010, the Commission adopted the decision ascertaining that six major international manufacturers of LCD…

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION FINES A CARTEL IN THE RETAIL PACKAGING TRAYS MARKET

ANTITRUST COUNTERS, ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT, Cartels, EU, Fines, Market Partitioning, PUBLIC ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENTLeave a comment

The European Commission has fined ten undertakings participating in five different cartels in the market of retail packaging trays. Eight manufacturers (Huhtamäki of Finland, Nespak and Vitembal of France, Silver Plastics of Germany, Coopbox, Magic Pack and Sirap-Gema of Italy and Linpac of the UK) and two distributors (Ovarpack of Portugal and Propack of the…