D'Kart | Antitrust Blog

Draft bill: The translation

21. February 2020 D'Kart Comments 0 Comment

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…

Read More Read More

Conference Debriefing (18): GWB10-Hearing

19. February 2020 Rupprecht Podszun Comments 2 comments

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…

Read More Read More

GWB10: the situation (1)

30. January 2020 Rupprecht Podszun Comments 1 comment

The arena was opened on 24.1.2020: On this day, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology presented the draft bill for the “GWB Digitization Act” (the 10th amendment of the German competition act). Now, supporters and opponents of an update of the antitrust rules can work on concrete proposals. Rupprecht Podszun looks at the situation after week 1 and focuses on the digital issues of the amendment. Freedom or socialism? Really nice SSNIPpets had been ready for “print” last Friday….

Read More Read More

It’s official: The draft bill GWB10

24. January 2020 Rupprecht Podszun Comments 2 comments

Today, the German Federal Ministry of Economics officially published the draft bill on the new competition law. For months we have been waiting for the Big Bang, the 10th amendment of the GWB (#GWB10). But we had to wait: first, Peter Altmaier’s Ministry worked for a long time to shape the rules for GAFAs, then the Federal Ministry of Justice blocked its publication since it disagreed on aspects of the implementation of the ECN plus directive. In the meantime, we…

Read More Read More

SSNIPpets (36): Close of business

24. December 2019 Rupprecht Podszun Comments 0 Comment

Christmas trees are close to be lit, December cookies have to be eaten before being too hard, time for last minute gift shopping is running out, and the essential question for the antitrust lawyer is which merger case you still have to get through in 2019 or which damage claims you still have to file by the end of the month. This newsletter provides important information on this – it is most probably the last one this year. Before close…

Read More Read More

Conference Debriefing (17): Antitrust in Times of Upheaval – CRA 2019

11. December 2019 Rupprecht Podszun Comments 0 Comment

The conference circuit picked up speed again now that the end of this remarkable year is near. We were not able to attend everything out there but obviously if catering promises to be good Rupprecht Podszun is never too far – and so here is his Conference Debriefing from Woodstock! Name of Conference: Antitrust in Times of Upheaval Place & Time: Steigenberger Wiltcher’s Brussels, 10 December 2019 Host: CRA, the economic consultancy, but really it is The Cristina Caffarra Show…

Read More Read More

Read!

8. December 2019 D'Kart Comments 4 comments

If the D’Kart newsletter comes exceptionally on a pre-Christmas Sunday, it’s for a good reason. To wish you a pleasant Sunday, to remind you of looking at the entries in the 2019 Antitrust Advent Calendar and for the purpose of literary criticism: a very well-known colleague has published a novel (in German), and you rightly want to know what it is like on the day of publication. Rupprecht Podszun read it for you. And since you are not going to…

Read More Read More

2019 Antitrust Advent Calendar

1. December 2019 D'Kart Comments 3 comments

Another exciting year for competition law! To review 2019, D’Kart asked personalities from the antitrust community to answer one question: “Looking back to the competition law year 2019 – what is most remarkable in your view?” This time, however, differing from our approach in 2018 and 2017, we decided to listen to the young generation of competition law folks: Men and women from our community who have already started their careers but who – probably – have not yet reached…

Read More Read More

Conference Debriefing (16): Die 10. GWB-Novelle beim 6. Berliner Kolloquium des FIW

29. November 2019 Gast Comments 0 Comment

Während das Team von D’Kart noch Päckchen für die dritte Ausgabe des Antitrust Advent Calendar packt, der am 1.12. beginnen wird, geht andernorts die Diskussion um die 10. GWB-Novelle weiter, z.B. in Berlin, wohin das FIW geladen hat, um die Pläne hochrangig zu diskutieren. Florian Bien war dabei. Veranstaltung: 6. Berliner Kolloquium des FIW, des Forschungsinstituts für Wirtschaftsverfassung und Wettbewerb. Anlass und Thema: Die bevorstehende 10. GWB-Novelle. Diskussionsgrundlage: Die vorläufige Fassung des immer noch nicht offiziell veröffentlichten Referentenentwurfs, den D’Kart…

Read More Read More

And Again: Liability for Cartel Damages

15. November 2019 Hans-Markus Wagener Comments 2 comments

Spain has recently provided the international media with more than just one news story worthy of making frontpage headlines. From a competition law perspective, the next big thing could just have been launched from Barcelona. The Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona, has decided to present the European Court of Justice with some interesting questions as it requests a preliminary ruling on matters of liability for cartel damages. Here is a report by Hans-Markus Wagener. Referring court and the background of the…

Read More Read More