PDF version: Click here Suggested Citation: Podszun, DKartJ 2023, 54 Such a mass of competition law developments on a single day is rare: Germany is getting the “New Competition Tool”, i.e. an amendment to its competition act, the ECJ has ruled in the matter of the Federal Cartel Office vs Facebook, and the companies that see themselves as digital gatekeepers in the sense of the Digital Markets Act have reported to the European Commission. Whew. On the Fourth of July…
PDF Version: Click here Suggested Citation: Renz/Kuhlmann/Frenken/Walter, DKartJ 2023, 43 On 26 May 2023, competition law was once again a topic in the German Bundestag: The Parliament held the first reading of the planned reform of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB). The Bundeskartellamt, the national competition agency, is to receive extended powers – we reported. This upcoming 11th amendment is an occasion to look back at the last debates in parliament. Four students of Heinrich Heine University have…
PDF-Version: Click here Suggested Citation: Wagner-von Papp, DKartJ 2023, 22-33 On 5 April 2023, the German government, represented by Robert Habeck (Vice Chancellor and Minister for the Economy and Climate Protection, The Greens) and Marco Buschmann (Minister for Justice, Liberal Democrats (FDP)) unveiled the Government Bill (RegE in German) to reform the Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC) in a press conference [in German, but subtitles can be auto-translated]. In the press conference, Vice Chancellor Habeck called the reform the…
This article is part of the D’Kart Spotlights: AGENDA 2025, in which experts from academia and practice comment on aspects of the Competition Policy Agenda presented by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The contributions already published can be found here. Section 19a is undoubtedly the most important piece of the 10th amendment to the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB). Gunnar Wolf and Niklas Brüggemann present their view on the relationship of this law to the…
At the end of the year, the legislators have mercy with the competition law community: The EU Commission published the draft for the Digital Markets Act right in time to take it into the Christmas break. The German Parliament left the stage to the lawmakers in Brussels and did not pass the 10th amendment of the German competition act. The MPs seem to hesitate. Dr. Thomas Lübbig and Ole Schley take a closer look. 2020 was a year in which…
Today, the EU Commission wants to present the plans for the Digital Markets Act, which will give antitrust law completely new instruments – but which must not then be assigned to antitrust law. At the same time, this week the German competition law amendment will be passed in Parliament (or so we expect). And we also have a nice and spicy message on the German Facebook proceedings. Rupprecht Podszun reports. Post Scriptum (16 Dec 2020): The German Parliament will not…
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…
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…
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…
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…