Introduction and background On 8 February 2024, the European Commission (the “Commission”) adopted a revised Market Definition Notice (the “Notice”). Defining a relevant market is a necessary step when assessing the market power of an undertaking in merger control and antitrust cases. This provides...
On 26 January 2024, the European Commission (the “Commission”) published a report, providing an overview of the enforcement of the EU competition rules by the Commission and the National Competition Authorities (“NCA”) in the pharmaceutical sector during the period 2018 – 2022. The scrutiny of...
In response to escalating geopolitical tensions and revolutionary technological changes, the European Commission (the “Commission”) has recently introduced a set of initiatives to enhance the economic security of the European Union (the “EU”). These measures which includes a new regulation as well a...
On 20 December 2023, the Swedish Competition Authority (“SCA”) issued a decision against a manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom faucets and showers for having fixed the prices and terms for the online resale of its products, i.e. resale price maintenance (“RPM”). The fine of MSEK 16.9 (approximately...
On 21 December 2023, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) rendered its judgement in case C-333/21, European Super League. The case concerns a request for a preliminary ruling from a Spanish court asking whether certain rules set by the football governing bodies FIFA and UEFA violate EU competition...
On 1 November 2023, the Swedish Competition Authority (the “SCA”) unconditionally approved Remondis Group’s (“Remondis”) acquisition of Delete Group (“Delete”) (jointly “the Parties”), despite having concerns that the transaction could restrict competition. In its reasons, the SCA stated that due to...
The Swedish Protective Security Act (SFS 2018:585) is a piece of legislation which aims to protect information and activities significant for Sweden’s security against espionage, sabotage, terrorist acts, and other threats. On October 27, 2023, the Swedish Government published a committee dire...
Following two years after the entry into force of the Unfair Trading Practices Act in Sweden the supervisory authority, the Swedish Competition Authority (“the SCA”), has issued its first decision imposing fines. The fines amounts to SEK 5 million (approximately EUR 425 000). Fines of SEK 5 million...
Following two sector inquiries the Swedish Competition Authority (the SCA) announced in October last year that it considered the existing competition rules to be inadequate and not sufficient to ensure competitive and well-functioning markets in Sweden. The SCA therefore requested new and more flexi...
Competition law and State Aid rules are more often than you might think related to the world of professional sports. And now the spotlight has turned to another field of EU law. On 12 August 2023, La Liga, the national professional football league in Spain, announced in a press release that it has l...
On 4 July 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a Grand Chamber ruling affirming the national competition authorities’ power to investigate privacy breaches when conducting abuse of dominance investigations under Article 102 TFEU. Big tech firms will now have extra incentives to...
On 29 June 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a preliminary ruling in the Super Bock case on the legality of resale price maintenance in distribution agreements. It appears that the last bastion of the ‘formalistic approach’ once adopted by the EU Courts has now fallen. In it...