Competitive Edge: Competition & EU Law - March 2023

 

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In focus

Foreign subsidies under EU control

EU legislation is generally perceived to be successful in combatting restrictions on cross-border trade between Member States. Nevertheless, the EU system has been criticised for not being able to sufficiently target vital security interests and financial advantages granted to companies by non-EU governments.

The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (2022/2560), which entered into force on 12 January 2023, targets the beneficiaries of foreign support including contractors organising bidding processes.

This is a further step in the EU to scrutinize and act against alleged unfair practices by non-EU actors. This Regulation is certainly a further reinforcement of the Commission’s policy to defend the European Union against unfair competition by non-EU countries, although it leads to further administrative requirements for businesses.

This article provides an overview and explores who and what will be caught by the new provisions.

Read the full story

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Updates from our Jurisdictions

Australia

Partners in grime – Waste services companies plead guilty to criminal cartel offences

Read the full story  

For more information, please contact Thomas Jones, Matthew Bovaird, Patrick Cordwell or Dylan McGirr 

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China

Launch of enforcement campaign to tackle monopolistic behavior in areas closely impacting public life

Read the full story 

For more information, please contact Sven-Michael Werner or Serena Du

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Czech Republic

Czech Competition Office concludes pharmaceutical sector investigation and publishes its full report and recommendations

Read the full story 

For more information, please contact Vojtech Chloupek or Martin Taimr

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Denmark

European Commission greenlights two Danish Schemes supporting sustainability technologies

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Morten Nissen, Alexander Brøchner or Nanna Krabbe

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France

The French Competition Authority starts proceedings ex officio to analyse competition in the sector of E-mobility

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Thomas Oster or Claire Burlin

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Hungary

Conclusions of the HoReCa sector inquiry

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Gábor Kutai or Dániel Aranyi

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Italy

The Italian Council of State (partially) confirms SIAE's abuse of its dominant position in the collective rights management market

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Federico Marini Balestra or Lucia Antonazzi.

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Netherlands

Dutch ACM clarifies possibilities of selfemployed workers to negotiate working conditions collectively

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Pauline Kuipers, Reshmi Rampersad or Sander Wagemakers.

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Singapore

Latest Mergers and Acquisitions in Singapore

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Sandra Seah

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United Kingdom

FCA issues statement of objections to 3 money transfer firms

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Bridget Chamberlain or Saskia King.

New Subsidy Control Regime in full force

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Peter Willis

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Events, webinars, conferences

Hybrid Seminar
Competition law and sector regulation in the telecom and pharmaceutical sectors

22 March 2023 | 15:00 – 20:00 CET
Bird & Bird - Brussels Office

Join us at Bird & Bird's Brussels office for this hybrid seminar organised with the Centre for a Digital Society of the European University Institute (EUI).

Economic regulation aims at fostering the proper functioning of markets including by potentially imposing asymmetrical duties on certain players in network industries such as communications, energy, or railway transport. In the pharmaceutical sector, regulation mainly aims at solving information asymmetries and ensuring drug affordability for final consumers. In these sectors, the application of sector regulation and EU competition policy goes hand in hand and may include potential overlaps.

This event will bring together academics, practitioners, officials from national governments and EU institutions and industry representatives to debate competition law and sector regulation in the telecom and pharmaceutical sectors.

The key-note speech will be delivered by Paul Csiszár, Director of DG Competition, European Commission.

For more information and to register, visit the event webpage

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Webinar
Football & EU Competition Law: State of Play

30 March 2023 | 10:00 CET

The Court of Justice of the European Union is expected to deliver its judgment in the coming months in the Super League case. European competition law is of central importance in this case. How does it apply to the very special field of sport, in general, and of football in particular?

In this free webinar organised by Football Legal and MLex, José Rivas and other widely recognised experts in the field will discuss all the issues involved and take stock of the application of
EU competition law in football.

Football Legal Journal is the leading publication on Football Law and Football Governance.

MLex is an independent news organization; MLex® is solely focused on uncovering regulatory risk across the globe.

Register for this webinar

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Webinar hosted by Lexology
FDI review - is increasing deglobalisation justified by protecting national security?

18 April 2023 | 17:00 - 18:00 CET

In this webinar our team of competition and corporate law experts Janneke Kohlen, Dr Stephan Waldheim, Anthony Rosen and Nick O'Donnell will take a look at the EU Foreign Direct Investment Regulation, namely its implementation and status across the EU, with a focus on Germany and the Netherlands, to examine whether there is a trend towards increased protectionism within the EU. They will also look at the UK’s developing National Security and Investment Act, which has now been in play for just over a year, to consider whether any trends are emerging.

The experts will discuss certain key aspects that companies should consider as they invest in companies located in other countries, which may fall in the scope of the critical infrastructure or sensitive technology sectors. After a short overview of the EU legislation, they will touch upon the UK, German and Dutch regimes and provide further insights on the key corporate/transactional considerations.

• EU FDI screening
  • Vital sectors
  • Sensitive technologies
• The UK regime
• The German regime
• The Dutch regime
• Corporate transaction timetable and conditions precedent.

Register for the webinar

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Webinar in Polish
Legal and practical aspects of the protection of business secrets

29-30 March 2023

Our Warsaw-based senior associate Szymon Gołębiowski will be one of the experts speaking at this two-day online conference organised by MMC Polska. He will present on Protection of business secrets in competition protection proceedings before the European Commission on 30 March.

More information and registration here

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Webinar in Polish
The Polish Competition Authority’s intensive activities in the field of prohibited pricing practices and counteracting the unfair use of contractual advantage

05 April 2023 | 09:45 - 11:45 CET

Our Warsaw-based competition lawyers Marcin Alberski and Stanisław Szymanek will discuss the Polish Competition Authority’s intensive activities in the field of prohibited pricing practices and counteracting the unfair use of contractual advantage in this webinar organised by MMC Polska.

More information and registration here

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Recording of past event
The legal and economic aspects of the organisation of football in Europe

If you missed the important and timely discussions about the European Sport Model at this conference that took place on 21 February in Luxembourg, a review and video replay are now available.

José Rivas took part in the panel discussing the regime of the European football pyramid under EU law, and you can find his intervention in the video at 2h:49m.

The conference was organised by the Centre for Law and Economics of Sport (FR) and the University of Luxembourg (LU).

Read CDES' brief review of the conference here

Watch the video replay of the conference

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Bird & Bird news and publications

Main Developments in Competition Law and Policy 2022 – The Netherlands

Read this article by our competition experts Pauline Kuipers and Reshmi Rampersad, based in The Hague, which was recently published on the Kluwer Competition Law Blog.

Read the article here

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FDI - Foreign Direct Investment Overview

Global scrutiny of M&A deals and investments is on the increase with evolving foreign direct investment (FDI) regimes and greater scrutiny of deals to protect national security interests. Alongside merger control requirements and clearances, it is now essential to consider FDI clearance requirements.

This short document outlines how Bird & Bird can help and provides a link to a detailed breakdown of FDI requirements by country.

View the document here