January 14, 2021
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic taught the world another lesson about the unpredictability of life. Each country responded to the challenges posed by the pandemic in its own way. The German Government in its familiar technocratic and sober approach quickly unlocked massive financial resources to mitigate any immediate economic damage. It supported a further relaxation of the purse strings at EU level and put legislative acts in place that helped manage the uncertainty in the most affected industries for now. Hit by a second wave of the pandemic in an unexpectedly hard way, Germany is now left wondering whether the country really was smart in the spring or just lucky. The new year 2021 will provide the answer to this question.
On 4 December 2020 the Office for the Protection of Competition (the office) announced in a press release(1) that it had imposed a Kc32 million (approximately €1.2 million) fine on Czech retail chain HRUŠKA, spol sro for an alleged abuse of significant market power. The decision is not final and an appeal has been filed.
According to the press release, the retail chain allegedly violated the Significant Market Power Act (SMPA) by fully transferring all business risks and losses associated with the sale of goods nearing their expiration date to dozens of its suppliers between 2016 and 2019. The retail chain was said to have provided its suppliers with a so-called full service , within which it demanded that suppliers reduce the price of goods already in stock if their expiration date was near. If these goods were not sold before the expiration date, a corrective invoice was issued to suppliers. As a result, suppliers had to return part of the money for the goods to the retail cha
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General
China affirms application of merger control to VIE structures with gun-jumping penalties
European Commission positive about implementation of Damages Directive
Digital/TMT
Facebook hit with U.S. antitrust suits over past deals and ongoing conduct
ECJ annulment of Commission’s Paramount pay-TV decision gives third parties more weight in the commitments process
Energy & Infrastructure
Life Sciences
General
U.S. FTC merger enforcement gathers pace
This month we have seen a flurry of activity on the merger control front from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Grabbing the headlines is the announcement that the FTC (and 48 attorneys general) have filed suit against Facebook, alleging that the firm breached antitrust laws through acquisitions and other conduct – see below for a separate article which sets out what you need to know.
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