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Category: Allgemein

SSNIPpets (47): Dinner is served

SSNIPpets (47): Dinner is served

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There is a lot to catch up on before the new year really gets going. Rupprecht Podszun, however, has once again only written down very subjectively what he came across in the last few weeks. Today it’s about Section 19a of the German Competition Act, the Digital Markets Act, big law firms, thin and thick books, personnel matters and access to data. Enjoy the first 2022-SSNIPpets – small but significant news, information and pleasantries – our pet project! Alphabet is…

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Antitrust Advent Calendar 2021

Antitrust Advent Calendar 2021

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Indeed, dear readers, there are a lot of news out there: The European Court supports the Commission in its quest against Google. The UK CMA tells Facebook to sell Giphy. The Bundeskartellamt, in a quite different dimension, opposed the acquisition of “Ostthüringer Zeitung”, a regional newspaper in the Gera/Jena area (while we are waiting for the first section 19a-decisions). The new German “traffic lights coalition” has ambitious plans for EU and German competition law reform, now under the direction of…

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Becoming the DMA: The Parliament’s Compromise (for now)

Becoming the DMA: The Parliament’s Compromise (for now)

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Writing about the DMA means jumping on a passing train (with a parachute). The draft Regulation is in constant flow: The Commission’s first serve was shelled with 1199 amendments proposed to Andreas Schwab, the Rapporteur for the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) by his colleagues. Once Parliament agrees on a compromise text, the trilogue negotiations with the Commission and the Council will start. The IMCO’s compromise text of Oct. 3 (hereinafter Compromise Amendments) was…

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Zum 4. Mal: Kartellrechtler unter sich

Zum 4. Mal: Kartellrechtler unter sich

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Am 28. September 2021 fand die neueste Ausgabe des berühmt-berüchtigten Düsseldorfer Doktorandenseminars im Kartellrecht statt. Philipp Offergeld und Mykyta Shchupak berichten über die aus ihrer Sicht kurzweilige, gelungene Veranstaltung. Das Institut für Kartellrecht der HHU Düsseldorf (IKartR) lud am 28. September zum mittlerweile vierten Mal zum Doktorandenseminar im Kartellrecht und setzte damit eine Reihe fort, die mittlerweile wohl als Tradition bezeichnet werden kann. Aufgrund der unsicheren Planungslage wurde die Veranstaltung nicht im Haus der Universität in der Düsseldorfer Innenstadt abgehalten, sondern über Zoom. Das Team des…

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New merger control thresholds for Austria

New merger control thresholds for Austria

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Austria, that lovely neighbouring country to Germany, is known for its Kaiserschmarrn, music, the Alps – and interesting merger thresholds. There is a reform, however, that will come as a relief to many. Johannes Barbist brings us up to date – including interesting news on the applicability of the new merger control thresholds.   Austria is lagging behind. We still concentrated on the market dominance test (also in merger control cases), did not specifically address the growing importance of digital…

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Refill: Beer Cartel (da capo)

Refill: Beer Cartel (da capo)

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Hello again! The parties involved in the German beer cartel are meeting in court again. The Cartel Senate of the Federal Court of Justice called for another round by overturning an acquittal of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court in this case in 2020. Now other judges of the Düsseldorf Court have to take up the matter. Rupprecht Podszun, who had written about the first proceedings here, has followed the new start of the trial. “We are new! Let’s start again…

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Revisiting Bork the Antitrust Warrior

Revisiting Bork the Antitrust Warrior

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Some books change the world, they say, and that is even true for competition law and policy. This summer, Bertold Bär-Bouyssière re-read the one book that gave antitrust policy a new direction: Robert Bork’s “The Antitrust Paradox”. Here is his review! Robert Bork´s seminal work “The Antitrust Paradox” is available again, published by Bork Publishing in 2021 with a new introduction by Senator Mike Lee and a Foreword by Robert H. Bork, Jr. The hardcover edition is at USD 39,99,…

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The Saxon wood pulp cartel

The Saxon wood pulp cartel

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Cartels are harmful to the economy and consumers. What sounds obvious today was seen differently in Germany more than 100 years ago. Competition was considered “pernicious” and cartels “beneficial”. In one of its most famous rulings, the then Supreme Court, Reichsgericht (RG), paved the way for the progressive cartelisation of the German economy in 1897, an epochal misjudgement, as later became apparent. If you are looking for a distraction from “gatekeepers” and “GAFA”, you can take a look back with Paul…

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Revamp of the EU’s rules on vertical agreements: It’s about the (digital) economy, stupid!

Revamp of the EU’s rules on vertical agreements: It’s about the (digital) economy, stupid!

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Just before the summer break, the European Commission (“Commission”) continues to tick off its To-Do-List, adding an important checkmark in its efforts to modernise the current set of rules in various areas of competition law. On 9 July 2021 it published its draft reform of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“Draft VBER”), including revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (“Draft Vertical Guidelines”). Kaan Gürer has taken a closer look. What is this all about? The VBER sets out the conditions under…

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