Competition law Blog

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

The CoRe Blog is the interactive online platform for up-to-date analysis of EU competition law developments. It’s the blog companion of the quarterly double-blind peer-reviewed European Competition and Regulatory Law Review (CoRe). The CoRe Blog fills in the gaps that a quarterly can’t address: immediate updates and analysis of breaking news in EU competition.

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28. May 2020  |   Features by Marios Iacovides

Covid-19 and the transformative power of State Aid: a framework for a democratically legitimate recovery
corona virus
By Julian Nowag and Marios Iacovides The coronavirus pandemic has led to major shocks to the global economy and the EU Member States, with hardly any State spared. The European Commission estimates that the EU economy will contract by 7.5 % in 2020. Unemployment is forecast to rise from 6.7% in 2019 to 9% in 2020. Within this context, the […]
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19. May 2020  |   Features by Virgilio Pereira

Amazon/Deliveroo: Dynamic Counterfactual Analysis and the Failing-Firm Defence
Amazon logo
The economic and financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic foreshadows an increase in the number of deals where the so-called “failing-firm defence” (“FFD”) might come under discussion, as recently demonstrated by the provisional clearance of Amazon’s investment in Deliveroo by the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”). This blogpost addresses the interplay between the FFD and dynamic counterfactual analysis, in light of the […]
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14. May 2020  |   Features by Daniel Mandrescu

Restrictions of competition by object and multi-sided platforms – insights from Budapest Bank
credit card swiping
The judgment of the CJEU in Budapest Bank (Case C-228/18) is the most recent case that provides guidance with regard to the application of art. 101 TFEU in the context of multi-sided platforms. The CJEU explicitly confirmed the possibility of finding restrictions of competition by object by such players despite the complexities originating from their multi-sided nature. However, the manner in which […]
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23. April 2020  |   Features by Friso Bostoen

Venture capital and antitrust: on exit strategies, killer acquisitions, and innovation harms
Competition Blogs - core venture capital
Venture capital (VC) is the primary source of financing for early-stage startups bringing their innovation to market. And a disproportionate amount of venture capital goes to startups in the tech sector. However, the last few years have seen a contraction in VC investment, particularly in potential competitors to incumbent digital platforms such as Facebook, Google and Amazon, which some interpret as […]
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6. April 2020  |   Features by Rita Paukste

EURIBOR Cartel: Features of Collusion and Detection of Cartel
Competition Blogs - skyscraper
A colleague of mine (kudos for you know who you are) once told me that in his competition law class he has a part called “how to make a good cartel?” A thought-provoking academic exercise in many aspects, indeed. When analyzing cartels in the financial sector this popped in mind to raise other questions – how participants in cartels in […]
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25. March 2020  |   Features by David van Wamel

Otis II: A lost opportunity to clear the mist
Picture of Elevator
In Otis II, the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘Court’) reaffirms that any party can claim damages for loss caused by an EU competition law infringement. More specifically, persons not active on the market affected by a cartel, but who provide subsidies to buyers of the products offered on that market, must be able to claim damages for […]
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19. March 2020  |   Features by Joris Gruyters

Corona and EU economic law: State aid
Competition Blogs - Corona and State Aid
By Wouter Devroe and Joris Gruyters The COVID-19 crisis calls for urgent State action. Member States are adopting various measures to compensate for losses suffered by the outbreak of the virus, such as compensation for temporary closure of businesses (e.g. shops, catering and hotels), introduction of State guarantees, or temporary relief of tax or social security payments. Ever more undertakings […]
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16. March 2020  |   Features by Friso Bostoen

Corona and EU economic law: Antitrust (Articles 101 and 102 TFEU)
Competition Blogs - Blog 16.3. corona
By Friso Bostoen and Liesbet Van Acker As the corona pandemic instils more and more fear in the population, some of its economic effects are immediately noticeable. Two items—hand sanitizer and facemasks—have been in particularly high demand (and short supply). This has driven prices up to a level where one may wonder whether they are abusive in the sense of […]
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16. March 2020  |   Features by Lennard Michaux

Corona and EU economic law: Public procurement in times of (extreme) urgency
Face Masks_Corona_Public Procurement
At the beginning of March, Belgian government officials realized that normal procedures would no longer guarantee the required supply of medical masks to face the COVID-19 epidemic—a problem faced by many countries globally. Additional initiatives by the European Commission would only remedy shortages by April at the earliest. A member of the Belgian parliament therefore personally contacted a Turkish producer […]
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15. March 2020  |   Features by Caranina Colpaert

Corona and EU economic law: Free movement of goods
Corona and Antitrust Law
By Wouter Devroe & Nina Colpaert COVID-19 is not only stress-testing our competition laws but also the free movement provisions in the TFEU. Can individual Member States, without consulting other Member States or the European Commission, simply ban the export of medicines or face masks? Can they order shops to close? Can they impose maximum prices for protective medical equipment? […]
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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 >>

25. July 2019  |   Features by Rita Paukste

Is there hope for competition in the rail sector?
Competition Blogs - alcom
The blocking of the Siemens-Alstom merger reminded everyone of the ‘pros and cons’ arguments in the debate on the liberalisation and competition in network industries. Despite the EU actions to liberalise rail markets and open them to competition, the issues relevant to incumbents who own both the rail infrastructure and freight operations are still at present. Several years ago the Commission imposed […]
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4. July 2019  |   Features by Rita Paukste

Audit and consulting services sector to face ‘unbundling’ by competition laws?
office table, laptops, papers
Lately in Europe, international accounting and consulting firms have been facing a number of legal issues due to infringements of audit, finance and competition laws. After a market study, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published proposals for improvements in the auditing sector; among them, legislative amendments to split up auditing from consulting services. This ‘unbundling’ of activities will […]
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26. June 2019  |   Features by Daniel Mandrescu

The return of the MFN clauses – platform ranking as an enforcement mechanism for price parity
Competition Blogs - glenn carstens peters npxXWgQ33ZQ unsplash
The MFN cases of the past few years have delivered a series of uncoordinated cases that created a fragmented approach towards MFN clauses. Nowadays it would appear that there is a growing consensus in Europe that wide MFN clauses should be prohibited which, also led major platform like Expedia to abandon these pricing strategies. The recent claim put forward by […]
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14. June 2019  |   Features by Friso Bostoen

U.S. antitrust agencies divide jurisdiction over Big Tech and single out Google for investigation
Competition Blogs - kai wenzel 06MHFfYv6YY unsplash
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 […]
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5. June 2019  |   Features by Rita Paukste

Collusive conduct in financial instruments trading: a look at the issues of dealing via chatrooms
Competition Blogs - priscilla du preez BjhUu6BpUZA unsplash
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 […]
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14. May 2019  |   Features by Daniel Mandrescu

App stores and (potential) abuses of dominance – an opportunity to reshape competition law enforcement in digital markets
smartphone menu
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 […]
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2. May 2019  |   Features by Virgilio Pereira

Are settlement proceedings the poor relation of EU antitrust policy?
calculator
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 […]
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24. April 2019  |   Features by Friso Bostoen

Spotify lodges antitrust complaint against Apple: it’s ‘time to play fair’ in the music streaming industry
Competition Blogs - sara kurfess wXU9yeANElg unsplash
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 […]
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11. April 2019  |   Features by Damiela Cardoso

The principle of personal liability in the context of private enforcement: is there anything new under the sun?
Competition Blogs - christian dubovan Y x747Yshlw unsplash
On March 14th, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued a ruling on a private enforcement case and lifted the veil of some of the unsettled and non-harmonised issues the Damages Directive failed to tackle. They can be shortly summarised in the following questions: who should be liable for antitrust damages and how can such liability be effectively enforced? On February […]
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5. March 2019  |   Features by Simen Klevstrand

Minority acquisition headed for first prohibition in Norway
Competition Blogs - bernard hermant zqx58cvjR5A unsplash
By Marianne Henne Møller and Simen Klevstrand, Haavind (Norway) The Norwegian Competition Authority (the “NCA”) has warned Sector Alarm Group AS that its acquisition of a non-controlling stake in a competitor may be blocked. Unless the parties are able to resolve the NCA’s concerns by 29 March, they face the first prohibition of a minority acquisition under Norway’s 2004 Competition […]
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