What a year! We are getting close to the end of 2020 (and some say: better so), but obviously, we still have our DECEMBER SPECIAL for you: the Antitrust Advent Calendar! To review the year in competition law, D’Kart asked personalities from the antitrust community all over the world to answer the following question: What has been the most significant competition law case or competition law development in your country in 2020? But we did not leave it at this….
Die Wissenschaftliche Vereinigung für das gesamte Regulierungsrecht hat sich in ihrem 5. Symposium dem Thema Regulierung von Algorithmen gewidmet. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Thematik die – nicht nur im Kartellrecht – seit einigen Jahren heiß diskutiert wird. Der kleine, feine Zusammenschluss von Professorinnen und Professoren aus dem Zivilrecht und dem Öffentlichen Recht tagt üblicherweise hinter verschlossenen Türen. Aber im Corona-Jahr ist alles anders: In diesem Jahr konnte sich jeder per Zoom einwählen. Adrian Deuschle hat’s getan und berichtet…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Today, D’Kart documents the draft bill of the German competition act, the Gesetz gegen Wettbewerbsbeschränkungen (GWB). As a small service for our loyal readers, we have also compiled a consolidated version of particularly important rules in German and English. D’Kart publishes the version of the draft of 7 October 2019, 18:14 – both documents, the draft bill as well as the partial version with consolidation and translation are of course provided without any guarantee. The occasion: ECN+ The draft bill…
‘Most favoured nation’ clauses have been an antitrust battlefield for years with disputes in many European countries. Now the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has decided in favour of a hotel booking platform in its Booking.com-decision. The case concerns narrow ‘most favoured nation’ clauses in agreements between hotel booking platforms and hotels. Adrian Deuschle reports. Narrow and wide MFN-clauses Booking.com brokers hotel rooms to consumers. If a consumer does the booking with Booking, the platform earns a commission of 10-15 %…