Competitive Edge: Competition & EU Law - January 2023
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Keeping you up to date on Competition & EU law developments in Europe and beyond
Read the full news letter here
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In focus
What European lawyers need to know about Chinese Antitrust Law
In 2008 China promulgated its first-ever Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), which was further revised in 2022. Over the years, the Chinese authority has turned to EU legislation for guidance and reference, while taking into account the special national circumstances, priorities, and capabilities of law enforcement in China.
In this article we discuss the key points of China’s Anti-Monopoly law and compare them to EU competition rules, which readers in Europe may be very familiar with.
Czech Republic
Calculating fines for associations based on members’ turnover enters practice of the Czech Competition Office
Read the full storyFor more information, please contact Vojtech Chloupek or Martin Taimr.
Denmark
New players, new rules – football media rights commitments amended due to market developments
Read the full storyFor more information, please contact Morten Nissen or Alexander Brøchner.
Finland
New guidance notices on merger control published
Read the full storyFor more information, please contact Petteri Metsä-Tokila or Maria Karpathakis.
Hungary
Amending the Competition Act: significant changes in place
For more information, please contact Dániel Aranyi, Gábor Kutai or Rebeka Szopkó.
Italy
Italian Competition Authority adopts guidance on new “sub-threshold” merger legislation
For more information, please contact Federico Marini Balestra, Lucia Antonazzi or Chiara Horgan.
Netherlands
The Dutch ACM’s crusade against vertical price influencing
For more information, please contact Pauline Kuipers or Reshmi Rampersad.
Poland
Most popular online trading platform in Poland fined for abusive practices towards both business users and consumers
For more information, please contact Marcin Alberski or Stanislaw Szymanek.
Spain
Year-in-review – Spanish competition law in 2022 and what to expect for the new year
For more information, please contact Candela Sotés.
UK
Confirmation that instigation and awareness of cartel activity is sufficient to attract a fine under UK competition law following the CMA’s decision in Rangers Football Club
For more information, please contact Ariane Le Strat or Saskia King.
Bird & Bird Podcasts
Competitive Edge – The Podcast
Episode 8: Badmouthing your competitors – Denigration as a stand-alone abuse of dominance
Our Copenhagen-based competition lawyers Frederik Haugsted, Alexander Brøchner and Nanna Sofie Krabbe take a deep dive into the subject of denigration / disparagement (dissemination of negative information to customers about their competitors’ products) as an abuse of dominance.
In 13 minutes they explore the topic thoroughly and in simple terms, covering the following points:
- What conduct constitutes denigration
- The Commission’s recent focus on this topic
- National case law
- Which sectors this is of particular importance for.
In Competitive Edge – The Podcast we dissect topical competition law issues to help you understand how they may affect your business. If you have any questions or need clarifications, we would be happy to hear from you.
Standard Essential Patents & Competition law - Podcast in Spanish
Las patentes esenciales para estándares en Life Sciences desde la perspectiva de Competencia
Bird & Bird Spain has launched a podcast series in Spanish featuring conversations with our experts in the Life Sciences sector.
In this episode our senior associate Candela Sotés discusses Standard Essential Patents in the Life Sciences sector from a Competition law perspective.
If you have any questions or need clarifications, feel free to reach out to Candela.
Listen to the episode (in Spanish)
Bird & Bird events, webinars and conferences
Webinar in Polish
Liability of trade associations and their members for anti-competitive practices
Implementation of the ECN+ Directive
9 February 2023 | 10 – 11.30 CET
As part of the implementation of the so-called ECN+ Directive in Poland, work is underway to amend the Competition and Consumer Protection Act. One of the proposed changes is to extend the liability of trade associations for restrictive practices. Noncompliance may result in a fine equal to 10% of the sum of the worldwide turnover of all members of the association. In this webinar, members of our Polish Antitrust team Marcin Alberski and Szymon Golebiowski will explain what is meant by restrictive practices and new rules on liability for infringements
of competition law.
Who should attend this webinar:
- Representatives of trade and industry associations as well as managers who take part in the work of business associations
- Representatives of legal and compliance departments, who supervise their companies' compliance with competition law
The webinar will be held in Polish.
Find out more and register here
ERA Annual Conference on European Competition law 2022
In December 2022, Brussels-based Competition partner Anne Federle gave a presentation on planned changes to the EU merger control procedure at the annual competition law conference of the ERA (Europäische Rechtsakademie) in Trier, Germany.
During the same trip to Germany, in her role as board member of the German Competition Lawyers’ Association (Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht), Anne attended the board’s annual dinner with the President and senior staff of the German Competition Authority as well as the association’s annual conference.
Anne has over 25 years of experience advising and representing clients in all areas of EU and German competition law.
Bird & Bird news and publications
Competition & EU teams recognised in latest GCR 100 rankings
Our Competition & EU teams in Brussels, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, and the Netherlands have been recognised in the 2023 edition of the Global Competition Review (GCR) 100 guide (paywall). The GCR 100 is a comprehensive listing and analysis of the world's top 100 Antitrust and Competition practices. The rankings provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the law firms and economic consultancies doing the most important antitrust work around the world.
Congratulations to José Rivas, Hein Hobbelen, Anne Federle (Brussels), Morten Nissen (Denmark), Dániel Arányi, László Zlatarov (Hungary), Federico Marini Balestra (Italy), Pauline Kuipers and Janneke Kohlen (Netherlands) and their respective teams!
Article nomination for 2023 Antitrust Writing Awards
Our article “What about sustainability aspects in merger control?” has been shortlisted by the 2023 Antitrust Writing Awards, organized by Concurrences and George Washington University, for the best Business Articles category in the subcategory “Mergers”.
You can now vote for you favourite articles here: Antitrust Writing Awards 2023
The winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on March 28 in Washington DC.
Voting will close on Tuesday, March 14.
Recognition in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific guide
Congratulations to our Sydney-based Competition partner Thomas Jones, who is also co-head of Bird & Bird's IT and Telecoms sector group in Australia.
He and the team were ranked in Tier 2 in the 2023 Legal 500 Asia-Pacific guide for IT and Telecoms.
Sydney Lawyers Orchestra - Christmas Concert 2022
The Sydney Lawyers Orchestra, conducted by our very own Telecoms Regulatory and Competition partner Thomas Jones, held its 7th Annual Christmas concert on 21 December 2022.
The concert, dedicated to the people of Ukraine, featured works by Beethoven, Grieg, Henry Tate and Eric Coates, as well as traditional Christmas favourites.
Proceeds of the event were donated to the Australian Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Watch a video clip from the concert on LinkedIn
Competition Group's annual Holiday Quiz
Speaking of talents outside the legal profession, did you know that our London-based competition law expert Peter Willis (pictured above with the Santa Claus hat) also happens to be an amazing Quiz Master? Much fun was had by all at Bird & Bird's annual Competition & EU Group Holiday Quiz, which began as an excuse to get together virtually during the Covid period and has remained a team tradition ever since!
We wish everyone a Happy New Year!
