Wettbewerbsrecht Blog

Official Blog of the European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (CoRe)

Der CoRe Blog bietet ein Austauschformat für aktuelle Analysen der Entwicklungen im EU-Wettbewerbsrecht. Er ist der Blog-Begleiter der vierteljährlich erscheinenden, mit einem doppelten Peer-Review-Verfahren versehenen European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (CoRe). Der CoRe-Blog füllt die Lücken, die eine viermal jährlich erscheinende Zeitschrift nicht schließen kann: unmittelbare Aktualisierungen und Analysen der neuesten Entwicklungen im EU-Wettbewerbs- und Regulierungsrecht und die Möglichkeit, diese Entwicklungen über unseren Kommentarbereich direkt mit anderen Experten zu diskutieren.

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U.S. antitrust agencies divide jurisdiction over Big Tech and single out Google for investigation

Last year, I wrote about how the United States considers boarding the tech regulation train that has been racing through Europe. It seems that they have now taken another decisive step in that direction: the U.S. antitrust agencies have agreed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will oversee investigations of Google and Apple, while the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for antitrust […]

Collusive conduct in financial instruments trading: a look at the issues of dealing via chatrooms

Following the benchmark currency rate manipulation scandal, the banking sector has had no chance to restore their reputation. Lately, major EU banks have been having competition law issues because of their traders’ collusive behaviour in the bond and global foreign exchange (FX) markets. Two Statements of Objections concerning bond cartels and collusive conduct by certain traders have been issued recently […]

CoRe Podcast – Online Platforms: Competition Law & Regulation

The European Competition and Regulatory Law Review presents its first podcast with speakers from the symposium “Transparency and Non-Discrimination Requirements for Online Platforms” (6 Jun 2019, Brussels). Listen to the podcast here. Are you interested in online platforms, competition law and regulation, and would like to learn more? If yes, our Symposium “Transparency and Non-Discrimination Requirements for Online Platforms: Competition Law & […]

App stores and (potential) abuses of dominance – an opportunity to reshape competition law enforcement in digital markets

During the past few weeks the number of complaints against Apple’s practices concerning the App Store has not gone unnoticed. While previous complaints by unhappy developers were perceived as isolated cases it would seem that now the flood gates have been opened, and the stream is primarily targeting Apple. In Europe, this development has been given quite some media coverage […]

Are settlement proceedings the poor relation of EU antitrust policy?

Leniency and settlement policies are crucial antitrust enforcement tools. They reward defendants’ cooperation and seek to reinforce effectiveness in law enforcement by replacing a non-cooperative equilibrium with a more cooperative dynamic between defendants and competition enforcers. As recently acknowledged by the OECD, settlements are picking up, and becoming an essential aspect of antitrust enforcement. Accordingly, a significant challenge of every leniency […]

Interview with the new CoRe Blog editor Rita Griguolaite

We are very happy to welcome you to the editorial team of the CoRe Blog. What motivated you to take on the position? I have been following the CoRe Blog from the moment of its launch and witnessed its blossoming among the other blogs in the field. The most exciting aspect of joining the editorial team is a possibility to […]

2018:373 Agria Polsk sp. z o.o. and Others v European Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 20 September 2018 Case name (short version) Agria Polska sp. z o.o. and Others v European Commission Case Citation C-373/17 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:756 Key words Appeal — Competition — Rejection of a complaint by the European Commission — Lack of Union interest Basic context By their appeal, Agria Polska sp. z o.o., Agria […]

2018:58 Schenker Ltd v European Commission

  Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 9 March 2018 Case name (short version) Schenker Ltd v European Commission Case Citation C-263/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:58 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFEU — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Pricing agreement affecting the final price of the services Basic context By its appeal, Schenker Ltd (‘Schenker […]

2018:60 Deutsche Bahn and Others v Commission

Court Court of Justice Date of ruling 1 February 2018 Case name (short version) Deutsche Bahn and Others v Commission Case Citation C-264/16 P ECLI:EU:C:2018:60 Key words Appeal — Competition — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Article 101 TFEU — Price fixing — International air freight forwarding services — Pricing agreement affecting the final price of the services Basic context By their appeal, Deutsche Bahn AG, Schenker […]

Spotify lodges antitrust complaint against Apple: it’s ‘time to play fair’ in the music streaming industry

On March 13th, Spotify filed a formal antitrust complaint against Apple with the European Commission (EC). In the complaint, Spotify alleges that Apple has been using its App Store to impede Spotify’s competitive potential to the advantage of Apple Music—its biggest competitor in the music streaming business. In what follows, I quickly examine the contentious history between Spotify and Apple before surveying […]
Anja Naumann

Blog Editor

LL.M., PhD, currently legal trainee at the Higher Regional Court of Berlin.

>> Anja’s CoRe Blog posts >>

Daniel Mandrescu
Blog editor Assistant Professor EU competition law, Europa Institute, Leiden University >> Daniel's CoRe blog posts >>
Friso Bostoen

Blog Editor

Assistant Professor of Competition Law and Digital Regulation, Tilburg University

Friso Bostoen is an assistant professor of competition law and digital regulation at Tilburg University. Previously, he was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. He holds degrees from KU Leuven (PhD, LLM) and Harvard University (LLM). Friso’s research focuses on antitrust enforcement in digital markets. His work has resulted in numerous international publications, presentations, and awards (including the AdC Competition Policy Award 2019 and the Concurrences PhD Award 2022). In addition, Friso edits the CoRe Blog and hosts the Monopoly Attack podcast.

>> Friso’s CoRe Blog posts >>

Nelly Stratieva

Head of Editorial Department and Data Protection Officer

Responsible for EStAL (European State Aid Law Quarterly), EPPPL (European Public Private Partnership Law Review) and CoRe (European Competition and Regulatory Law Review). Overseeing Lexxion Publisher’s privacy and data protection compliance.

Parsa Tonkaboni
Picture Rita Paukste
Rita Paukste

Former Blog Editor

Senior Associate, Motieka & Audzevicius PLP, Vilnius

>> Rita’s CoRe Blog posts >>

The Commission’s Gazprom decision – an environmentally relevant demonstration of the Commission’s power

Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager is making a name for herself as the Commissioner who really takes on the ‘big whales’ of international corporations and holds them accountable to EU competition law. After the Commission took on international tech giants like Google and Facebook under Vestager’s stewardship, the Russian energy giant Gazprom has now been added as the latest feather in […]

The Commission proposes a Regulation on platform-to-business trading practices

On 26 April 2018, the European Commission adopted its Proposal for a Regulation ‘on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services’. In short, the proposal seeks to regulate the relation between platforms and businesses by imposing a number of transparency obligations on the former. In this blog post, I will take a closer look at the […]

Online platforms and refusal to deal – Unlockd vs. Google – a seminal case in the making?

The recent standoff between advertisement application developer Unlockd and Google, concerning the removal of Unlockd from the Google Play Store and AdMob marketplace, may turn out to be one of the most important competition law cases of the year. This case, which will likely require a competition law review of Google’s terms and conditions for these platforms, provides the opportunity […]

New Commission proposal for more whistleblower protection: more of the same for competition law?

In a press release of 23 April 2018, the EU Commission announced the proposal of a new Directive that is set to introduce new, EU-wide rules for the better protection of whistleblowers. The press release underlines the importance of whistleblowers in uncovering breaches of EU law, as demonstrated by recent scandals, such as Dieselgate, Panama Papers, or Cambridge Analytica. Without […]

Protecting David against Goliath: Commission’s Proposal against Unfair Trading Practices in the Food Supply Chain

In response to concerns over so-called unfair trading practices (UTPs) between businesses arising from significant imbalances of economic power, the European Commission has for years devoted much attention to the functioning of the food supply chain. Despite these efforts, actual enforcement actions and legislative developments unfolded predominantly on the Member State level. On April 12, however, the Commission may have […]

Price discrimination and abuse of dominance – MEO Case C-525/16

The recent case of MEO delivers a meaningful clarification concerning the importance of an effects analysis in the case of art. 102 (c) TFEU. While not providing an ultimate solution for all comparable future cases, the CJEU in this case clearly indicates that term ‘competitive disadvantage’ constitutes an independent element of art. 102 (c) TFEU that requires proof. Background to […]

Innovation in EU merger control

The Commission’s assessment of the effects of mergers on innovation has fascinated scholars and practitioners for the last two years or so. On 12 April 2018, the Commission’s Deputy Director General for Mergers Carles Esteva Mosso comprehensively addressed the issue at the Spring Meeting of the ABA Section of Antitrust Law. This blogpost traces earlier developments and gleans new insights […]

Fines and files – news of the German sausage cartel

The German ‘sausage cartel’ has truly turned into the gift that keeps on giving. However, while so far the gifts given were, with only one setback, rather in favour of the Bundeskartellamt (Federal Cartel Office) with high fines totalling EUR 338.5 million being imposed on members of the cartel, the latest developments seem like a welcome gift for the sausage […]

Online platforms and abuse of dominance – the case of Funda Real Estate

The application of EU competition law to online platforms has been subject to much debate in the course of the past two years. The EU Commission and several national competition law authorities have launched multiple studies in order to identify the possible challenges in this context and establish an action plan. The distinguishing characteristics of online platforms including: the reliance […]

When the industry strikes back – UPS claims 1.7 billion Euro for the blocked merger with TNT

The recent fines imposed by the Commission on companies have made headlines quite a few times since the beginning of 2018. This growing press coverage is undeniably linked to size of the fines as well as the parties on whom these were imposed. However while the Commission was busy fining companies for their anticompetitive behavior, United Parcel Services (UPS) decided […]

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