competitionlaw

By its recent judgment in the case C-480/96 Stadtreinigung Hamburg the ECJ sets out in which conditions an inter-municipal cooperation agreement falls outside EU law, especially the EU public procurement rules. Public authorities, especially municipalities, enter into inter-municipal cooperation agreements as a way of discharging their public functions. These agreements constitute a cost-effective option for delivering a wide range of public services, and they are based on forms of public law (such as statutory joint authority, joint committee, or delegation of powers) or private law forms (contracts creating a joint venture company or outsourcing public tasks). In Stadtreinigung Hamburg the ECJ considered whether a contract concluded by a number of German local authorities, by which they pooled together their own resources (capacity at a thermal incinerator and spare landfill capacity) in order to perform statutory public interest tasks regarding waste disposal was caught or not ...

An Italian ferry operator Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is alleged to have abused its dominant position in the market for regular maritime transport services of passengers and road vehicles operated with “roll on-roll off” or “Ro-Pax” ships between the ports of Genova, Genova Voltri and Vado Ligure, on one hand, and the Sicilian ports of Palermo and Termini Imerese, on the other hand. The Italian Competition Authority or ICA started investigations following a complaint detailing the GNV abusive conducts filed by T-Link, a ferry operator which recently started the Genova Voltri-Termini Imerese link in competition with the routes already operated by GNV ( A417, T-Link/Grandi Navi Veloci ). In particular, GNV would have carried out the following anticompetitive conducts: • it applied loyalty discounts selectively targeted at T-Link's clients; • it strategically increased offers for the transport of commercial road vehicles in a period of the year- summer 2009- when demand is falling with t...

The UK Competition Commission (CC) has provisionally found the Stagecoach acquisition of Eastbourne Buses and Cavendish Motor Services , referred to it by the OFT, as anticompetitive. In October and December 2008, Stagecoach acquired the entire share capital of two Eastbourne local bus operators, first of Eastbourne Buses and then of Cavendish Motor Services . T he se mergers drew the OFT attention since Stagecoach will be the sole supplier of local bus services in Eastbourne . T he OFT determined that Eastbourne constituted a substantial part of the UK under sec. 23(4) of the Enterprise Act 2002 and that the merger met the test 'it is or may be the case that the above acquisitions creates a relevant merger situation' and asserted jurisdiction on the Stagecoach acquisition of Eastbourne Buses and Cavendish Motor Services . To establish jurisdiction on the mergers, the OFT relied on the fact that Eastbourne have the same population as Slough the CC held to constituted ...

The saga regarding the divestiture of Crédit Agricole (CA) stake in Banca Intesa ( see my previous post of 1 June 2009 ) is far from being over. To address the concerns raised by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) on whether the merging parties complied with the condition imposed on the divestiture of branches to CA, CA and Assicurazione Generali (AG) have notified a new and downsized version of the shareholder agreement about the stake they have in BancaIntesa. The new agreement comes immediately in force, replaces the older one and will be valid for a period of three years. The new agreement does not contain any clause for tacit renewal of the agreement as the old agreement did. The new agreement sets the CA and AG commitments to prior consultation aimed at preserving and increasing the value of their stakes in Banca Intesa. Interestingly, the mechanism for prior consultation shaped by the new agreement is much slimmer than that of the old agreement. Under the old agreement, CA...

In the space of the same year this is the second time the Italian Competition Authority or ICA had to ascertain whether Trambus, the Rome local bus operator incumbent, complied with Article 8 of the Act 287/90 (AGCM, case SP114-Trambus Engineering-Trambus Electric). Article 8 stipulates that monopolist undertakings or undertakings by law entrusted with the provision of services of general economic interest shall set up separate companies to carry out economic activities on markets other than those on which they trade within the monopoly situation or to provide the above services. They have to priory notify the ICA the incorporation of undertakings and the acquisition of controlling interests in undertakings trading on the different markets referred. In case of non notification the ICA shall impose a fine of up to Euro 51,645. In this case Trambus created two fully owned subsidiaries, Trambus Engineering and Trambus Electric, trading in markets other than the provision of local bus...

An agreement concluded by two port terminal operators, pursuant a mutual exchange of shares, has been alleged by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) to constitute a concentration for the purpose of Act 2897/1990. The ICA has then opened an investigation into the agreement to verify whether the party has infringed the obligation to notify a concentration to the ICA before implementing it (Case C10086, PSA Europe-Gruppo Investimenti Portuali/Seber-Sinport ). By a communication received by the ICA on 28 July 2008, the parties informed that by a contract signed on 15 July: • PSA Europe (PSA), which fully owned the terminal operator Sinport, bought a 40% stake in Seber, a terminal operator until then fully owned by Gruppo Investimenti Portuali or GIP; • GIP, in turn, bought a 40% stake in Seber. The parties have declared that the transaction has been consummated on 28 July 2008, by result of which now PSA has a 60% and 40% stake in Sinport and Seber, respectively and GIP has a 60% and...

In its advocatory capacity the Italian Competition Authority has released an opinion with critical remarks at recently enacted laws and drafts now being examined by the Italian Parliament on the regulatory regime for rail transport, because of the feared negative impacts they may have on the competition in this sector (see AS528, Definizione del servizio universale nel trasporto ferroviario e affidamento dei conseguenti oneri di servizio - Definition of universal service with regard to rail transport and assignment of ensuing public service obligations ). Competition in rail transport markets is undermined by an opaque not clear-cut distinction between free- market services and universal services, and by the direct assignment of the latter. Regional passenger services to be carried out under public contracts signed and funded by regions fall within the concept of universal service. Article 23-bis of the act no. 112/2008 lays down that the general way of awarding a public service c...