Competition Law

EU court orders Telefonica to pay antitrust fine by EUbusiness — last modified 29 March 2012, 15:35 CET

The European Court of Justice upheld an antitrust fine of 152 million euros on Thursday against Spanish telecommunications giant Telefonica for abuse of a dominant market position.

European anti-trust fines between predictability and unpredictability - the recent case of the detergent cartel by Leonard Ghione — last modified 22 April 2011, 15:09 CET

Companies and the scientific community have long criticized the Commission for its unpredictability when it comes to the calculation of anti-trust fines. At last week’s International Conference on Competition in Berlin the current EU Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia announced that he was committed to further increase the transparency of his agency’s methods of calculation. Despite the intended changes the recent fines levied against the three leading producers of detergents in Europe – Henkel, Unilever and Procter & Gamble – shows that the calculation of European anti-trust fines remains to a large degree unpredictable.

EPO Official Journal January 2011 by Ina Dimireva — last modified 12 February 2011, 00:41 CET

The Official Journal of the EPO contains notices and information of a general character issued by the President of the European Patent Office, as well as any other information relevant to the EPC or its implementation.

E.on's EUR 38m fine upheld by General Court by Leopold Gasteen — last modified 26 January 2011, 19:25 CET

The General Court has upheld a fine originally imposed by the Commission on E.on AG for having tampered with a seal affixed to one of E.on's offices which was being used for internal investigation.

Contact lens law is clarified by EU Court by Leopold Gasteen — last modified 26 January 2011, 19:10 CET

Banning the sale of contact lenses on the Internet on the grounds of consumer health is disproportionate to consumer health requirements, the European Court of Justice has ruled.

EU slaps Deutsche Telekom with EUR 12.6m fine by Leopold Gasteen — last modified 28 October 2010, 18:09 CET

The European Court of Justice has upheld a fine of EUR 12.6 million originally imposed by the Commission in 2003 for anti competitive behaviour in the German internal market.

EU okays funding mechanism for France Télévisions by Ina Dimireva — last modified 20 July 2010, 23:05 CET

The European Commission has approved the annual funding mechanism for France Télévisions, which is deemed to comply with the European Union's state aid rules.

EU approves Swedish scheme supporting newspapers by Ina Dimireva — last modified 20 July 2010, 23:05 CET

The European Commission has concluded that a changed regime to support newspapers in Sweden is now in line under EU state aid rules.

EU greenlights state aid for high speed internet in Estonia by Ina Dimireva — last modified 20 July 2010, 23:05 CET

The European Commission has authorised under the EU State aid rules Estonia's plans to support the establishment of a country wide high speed broadband infrastructure, the EstWin project.

Sky Italia can participate in allocation of TV frequencies in Italy: EU by Ina Dimireva — last modified 20 July 2010, 23:10 CET

The European Commission has authorised Sky Italia, the Italian subsidiary of Newscorp, to participate in the future tender for the allocation of nationwide digital terrestrial television frequencies in Italy.

EU approves the acquisition of Giraud by French Geodis by Ina Dimireva — last modified 16 July 2010, 00:10 CET

The European Commission has approved, in accordance with the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition by Geodis, which belongs to the SNCF group, of sole control of Giraud, an international road freight group.

EU okays acquisition of French IMS by Jacquet Metals by Ina Dimireva — last modified 16 July 2010, 00:10 CET

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the French IMS International Metal Service by the Belgian JSA SA, the holding company of Jacquet Metals of France, both active in the distribution of steel products throughout the EU.

EU approves acquisition of Privileg Rights by Whirlpool by Ina Dimireva — last modified 08 July 2010, 16:39 CET

The European Commission cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Privileg trademark and other rights by Whirlpool of the US.

EU approves acquisition of Millipore by Merck by Ina Dimireva — last modified 08 July 2010, 16:39 CET

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition of Millipore, a US-based life science group of companies by the German pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck.

EU approves UK pension scheme NEST by Ina Dimireva — last modified 06 July 2010, 22:59 CET

The European Commission has approved under EU State aid rules the establishment of an occupational pension scheme in the UK, branded NEST, in the UK to ensure that all employees have access to an affordable pension vehicle.

EU approves acquisition of Círculo by Spanish media group Planeta by Ina Dimireva — last modified 06 July 2010, 22:58 CET

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the acquisition by the Spanish media group Planeta of joint control of the Spanish book club Círculo, currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann.

EU approves merger between IT companies Bell Micro and Avnet by Ina Dimireva — last modified 03 July 2010, 00:48 CET

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of Bell Micro by Avnet. Avnet and Bell Micro are both US-based distributors of information technology products.

EU moves a step closer to a Single Patent by Ina Dimireva — last modified 01 July 2010, 22:33 CET

The European Commission presented today a proposal on translation arrangements for a future EU Patent, the final element needed for a single EU Patent to become a reality.

EU approves Total's partial acquisition of Polimeri of Belgium by Ina Dimireva — last modified 01 July 2010, 22:36 CET

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed sale of Polimeri's polystyrene business at Feluy, Belgium, to Total Petrochemicals Feluy S.A.

EU approves restructuring of Austrian bank BAWAG by Ina Dimireva — last modified 30 June 2010, 17:08 CET

The European Commission has authorised under EU State aid rules a €550 million capital injection provided by Austria in favour of the BAWAG bank and approved a new restructuring plan of the bank.