Ultra vires?

Ultra vires?

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Peter Meier-Beck on the judgment of the German Constitutional Court In a sensational judgement last week, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) denied the primacy of European law in a case involving decisions of the European Central Bank. The decision caused “horror” with Prof. Dr. Peter Meier-Beck, a presiding judge at the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof). In this article he speaks as a high-ranking judge and makes it clear that he does not share the opinion of the…

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SSNIPpets (38): Phase II

SSNIPpets (38): Phase II

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In the antitrust community, the term “Phase II” has so far triggered thoughts about merger control: This is where Phase II is rather frightening. Today, “Phase II” gets a new meaning, even with competition folks – it is the gradual reopening of public life after the shutdown. Rupprecht Podszun is in his SSNIPpets phase. Here are his small but significant news, information and pleasantries – our pet project! Stop the clock Since we had collectively been ordered into isolation a…

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Greetings from Home Office!

Greetings from Home Office!

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Do you feel it, too? Somehow you had imagined being able to work from home one day, and you thought that must be brilliant… But then you started to find out what that means: You need to do your Hamsterkauf, your children scurry around your desk and that one essential document has been left at the office. The biggest challenge, however, in our humble opinion, is a different one: We miss the direct contact with our beloved colleagues from the…

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Antitrust law in times of crisis = crisis of antitrust law?

Antitrust law in times of crisis = crisis of antitrust law?

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The virus challenges everything – competition law is no exception to that rule. Marcel Nuys and Florian Huerkamp give a first account of the situation in antitrust law in our blog. And while nothing is safe these days, one thing is: This is not the last time we have to deal with competition law in times of the Covid-crisis. The famous and influential German Supreme Court Justice Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde spent a good amount of his academic work on the question…

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Conference Debriefing (19): AG Competition (Verein für Socialpolitik)

Conference Debriefing (19): AG Competition (Verein für Socialpolitik)

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A few days ago there was a conference on competition issues that was not cancelled. Hooray! In Berlin, the competition working group of the renowned German economists’ club “Verein für Socialpolitik” met. Prof. Dr. Andreas Polk was on site and reports for D’Kart about the last meeting of its kind for some time… This year’s meeting of the Competition Working Group, which traditionally meets before the Economic Policy Committee of the Verein für Socialpolitik, was not yet entirely dominated by…

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How the European Union can compete globally

How the European Union can compete globally

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By Dr Andreas Schwab, MEP European champions and a relaxation of competition law are again being discussed in Brussels. Manfred Weber and Esther de Lange from the EPP group in the European Parliament have sent a letter to Commissioners Margrethe Vestager and Thierry Breton, published by Politico here. D’Kart asked Dr Andreas Schwab for a statement – he is a colleague from the same group as the authors of the letter and a competition lawyer who is well versed in…

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SSNIPpets (37): Home Office

SSNIPpets (37): Home Office

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Carnival is over, we were still allowed to go outside the door in the Rhineland then. In the meantime, everything has moved to home office. Now, what happens if you are no longer allowed to see your local bookstore since you may bump into someone coming home from a conference in China? Before you run out of stock of reading material, Rupprecht Podszun has hoarded news and written down what was still on his mind for 2019 and 19a. Here…

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Draft bill: The translation

Draft bill: The translation

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The German competition law reform sparks a lot of interest on the international stage. We have a new translation into English of the draft bill! It does not only contain new provisions on abusive practices (including an interesting rule for companies with paramount significance for competition across markets). It also proposes notification thresholds for merger control – relevant for everyone who wishes to get a deal through. Today, D’Kart is able to provide a brand new, fresh translation of key…

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Conference Debriefing (18): GWB10-Hearing

Conference Debriefing (18): GWB10-Hearing

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German Ministries send their draft bills to hearings of stakeholders. Now it was the turn of the draft competition law reform that had to pass through this hellfire. Rupprecht Podszun went to Berlin to see how the Ministry fared with the representatives of industries, Google and the like… Name of the event: Hearing on the GWB Digitisation Act (#GWB10) (“Verbändeanhörung” in German) Place & Time: Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, auditorium of the old Kaiser Wilhelm Academy, 18 February…

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