Dirty laundry in the working group – cleaning instructions from the Federal Court of Justice to the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court

Dirty laundry in the working group – cleaning instructions from the Federal Court of Justice to the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court

PDF Version: Click here Suggested Citation: Heuer/Woeste, DKartJ 2023, 3-5 Shortly before Christmas, the Federal Court of Justice (FCJ) passed judgement on the follow-on lawsuit regarding the so-called “drugstore products cartel”. It had been eagerly awaited not only by the antitrust world but also by the creditors of the insolvent drugstore chain Anton Schlecker e.K. In the ruling, the FCJ expressly clarifies that in the event of an anti-competitive information exchange on price behavior, there is a factual presumption that…

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On our own account: Antitrust Law at the “Zeitenwende”

On our own account: Antitrust Law at the “Zeitenwende”

In Germany, anthologies with current essays on competition law are about as frequent as fines in abuse proceedings under the German competition act: they hardly ever happen. There are commemorative publications, the infamous German “Festschrift”, yes, but for one of those someone has to have a birthday. With no birthday around, I have something special to announce to you today: We proudly present  “Antitrust Law at the Zeitenwende – On the Way to the 11th and 12th Amendments to the…

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Conference Debriefing (34): Working (!) Session of the Studienvereinigung

Conference Debriefing (34): Working (!) Session of the Studienvereinigung

On 8 December, the Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht, the legendary group of German-speaking competition lawyers, met for its working session in Bonn. This year, the traditional meet-and-greet with prominent figures from the nearby Federal Cartel Office and also from far away Berlin was dominated by the German reform projects. Dr. Sascha Dethof reports. “Working session”, “there is work to be done today”, “this will be a real working session” – Chairman Ingo Brinker (Gleiss Lutz) made it clear in his introduction that he expected…

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The Antitrust Advent Calendar 2022

The Antitrust Advent Calendar 2022

Friends & folks around the globe, it is this time of the year again! In the past years, it became a tradition of this blog to use the run-up to Christmas Eve for – what we call – “Adventskalender”. Every day in December up to the 24th, we have a new treat for you in this blog, a little special gift for you, our beloved readers. It is the #AntitrustAdventCalendar! This year, we take you to a photo tour of…

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Conference Debriefing (33): Das C-L-F in Düsseldorf

Conference Debriefing (33): Das C-L-F in Düsseldorf

Stehen öffentliche und private Kartellrechtsdurchsetzung zueinander in einem Spannungsverhältnis und falls ja, wie lässt sich dieses auflösen? Das war die Fragestellung, zu der das Competition Litigation Forum e.V. gemeinsam mit dem Institut für Kartellrecht unter dem Rubrum „Kronzeugenprogramm ./. Private Enforcement“ in die Hauptstadt des Kartellrechts nach Düsseldorf ins Haus der Universität einlud. Severin Stratmann berichtet. Zwei Protagonisten Als Protagonisten traten in dem, mit über 80 Personen gut gefüllten, großen Saal der Präsident des Bundeskartellamts Andreas Mundt und Prof. Dr. Christian Kersting von der Universität Düsseldorf auf…

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“Cartel damages proceedings run too long in Germany!”

“Cartel damages proceedings run too long in Germany!”

Those who follow cartel damages proceedings in German courts are sometimes stunned: Do these proceedings really have to take so long? Does every detail really have to be questioned in such a way? Prof. Dr. Johannes Heyers says: Things are being artificially complicated here – with first instance courts and the legal profession taking a fair share of blame. A wake-up call. The plea that antitrust damages proceedings “run too long in Germany” (as Tilman Makatsch rightly put it in…

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Spotlight off: A review and outlook on AGENDA 2025

Spotlight off: A review and outlook on AGENDA 2025

After five months and nearly 20 contributions from academia and practitioners in our series D’Kart Spotlights: AGENDA 2025, we turn off the spotlight. The occasion for this spotlight project was the AGENDA 2025, with which the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) presented an outline for the reform of antitrust law. The draft bill for the Competition Enforcement Act – (11th amendment of the law against restraints on competition (GWB) – was published yesterday. In addition to…

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Conference Debriefing (32): 5. Offenes Doktorandenseminar

Conference Debriefing (32): 5. Offenes Doktorandenseminar

Das Institut für Kartellrecht der HHU Düsseldorf (IKartR) lud am 5. und 6. September zum mittlerweile fünften Mal zum Doktorandenseminar im Kartellrecht ein und setzte damit eine Reihe fort, die als Tradition bezeichnet werden kann. In diesem Jahr konnte das Seminar nach zwei Corona-Jahren erstmals wieder traditionsgemäß im Haus der Universität in der Düsseldorfer Innenstadt abgehalten werden. Philipp Offergeld, Nils Overhoff und Severin Stratmann berichten. Ein Wochenanfang in Düsseldorf mit Kartellrecht fühlt sich an wie ein Wochenende Mit diesem Motto begannen Rupprecht Podszun und Christian…

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AGENDA 2025: Ideas for sustainable control of abusive practices

AGENDA 2025: Ideas for sustainable control of abusive practices

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. In the sustainability debate, we mostly talk about cooperations between undertakings. However, it can also be a topic for the abuse of a dominant position. Tristan Rohner presents some ideas on a sustainable control of abusive…

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AGENDA 2025: More Sustainability in Merger Control?

AGENDA 2025: More Sustainability in Merger Control?

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. Merger control is often not dealt with at all or only as a marginal issue in the sustainability debate in antitrust law. In this article, Johanna Welsch takes a look at this part of the BMWK’s…

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