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By: Steptoe & Johnson LLP

Blog Authors

Alexandra Guillaume
Chiara Conte
Camille Keres
Daniel Barrio Barrio
Karl Herrmann
Jean-Nicolas Maillard
Kenneth Ewing
Paul Hughes
Tracy Huang
Yves Botteman

Latest from Antitrust & Competition Blog

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On December 17, 2018, the European Commission (EC) imposed on the clothing company Guess a hefty penalty of EUR 40 million for allegedly severe restrictions relating to the online sales activities of its authorized distributors.  The full text of the Decision was published by the EC on January 25, 2019. While the substance of the Decision does not really bring anything new on the way enforcers have thus far addressed online restraints imposed by brand…
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CMA Brexit Draft Guidance On 28 January 2019 the UK Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’) issued draft guidance on the effects of any no-deal Brexit on the CMA’s functions and its enforcement approach. This guidance has been made more urgent by the continuing UK political divisions that have plagued the Brexit process and which could see the UK crash out of the EU without any deal in place on 29 March 2019. In past speeches…
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In this briefing, we describe how certain employment practices, such as no-poach or wage-fixing agreements, may infringe competition law, a topic that has recently taken centre stage in the US and is also firmly, although more discretely, on the radar of antitrust authorities in Europe, but perhaps not yet on that of companies. Here is why it should be. HR practices are already an antitrust enforcement priority in the US HR practices are already high…
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It is nothing short of a Christmas miracle. After years of quasi-radio silence, the Pay-TV case has finally made significant progress and has reached not one, but two significant milestones: on December 12, the General Court published a judgment largely confirming the European Commission’s (EC) approach of the case, i.e. that geoblocking clauses in broadcasting contracts amount to a restriction of competition by object (case T-873/16). A week later, on December 20, NBC Universal,…
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On July 13, 2018, the Paris Court of Appeal (Cour d’appel de Paris) finally upheld Caudalie’s marketplace ban, putting an end to a five-year legal saga. This judgment is highly interesting in that it goes beyond the landmark 2017 Coty judgment by ruling that platform bans may, under certain circumstances, apply to non-luxury products – a question that was left open in Coty. Quick Recap The dispute involves Caudalie, a French cosmetic manufacturer, and eNova,…
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Today is the day: on Monday, December 3, the Geoblocking Regulation (the Regulation) starts applying to online businesses operating across several EU Member States. For those who feel like they need a refresher, below we provide an overview of what is in the Regulation – as well as what is not. The Regulation in a Nutshell The Regulation lays down rules relating to access to online interfaces, access to goods and services and non-discrimination for…
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On 20 November 2018, the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a political agreement on the proposed EU framework for screening of foreign direct investments (FDIs). The proposal, put forward by the Commission in September 2017, aims at protecting key strategic industries and assets in Europe whilst maintaining the EU’s appeal to foreign investors. While other countries such as Australia, Canada, China, India, Japan and the US, as well as 12 of…
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Brexit may well be around the corner, but antitrust enforcement is still alive and well on the other side of the Channel. On November 2, 2018, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK national competition authority, announced that it had provisionally found that ComparetheMarket, a home insurance price comparison site, may have infringed both UK and EU competition law by inserting wide most favored nation clauses (Wide MFN) in its contracts with home insurers.…
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With Halloween around the corner, the French Competition Authority (FCA) is revisiting chainsaw massacre: on October 24, 2018, it adopted a decision imposing a 7 million euros fine on chainsaw manufacturer Stihl for imposing a de facto ban on online sales to its distributors (see press release here). Even more importantly, contrasting with previous French cases, the Stihl decision also clears a platform ban that the manufacturer imposed on its distributors, thus extending the reach…
The Competition Law Journal published on 1 October 2018 an article by Yves Botteman and Daniel Barrio Barrio on the Coty case. The article examines the European Court of Justice’s judgment in Coty and its implications for distribution arrangements, as regards both the application of Article 101 TFEU and the Vertical Restraints Block Exemption Regulation to selective distribution arrangements and restrictions on internet sales via third-party platforms. It also considers the European Commission’s response to the Coty judgment (including…