competitionlaw

In the case I820 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has recently opened an antitrust investigation into a price collusion arrangement allegedly put in place by the major telecommunications operators. The ICA decided to open the investigation on the basis of the information it collected regarding the following facts. In 2015 the major mobile phone operators TIM, Vodafone and Wind Tre reduced the deadline for topping up rechargeable SIM cards from one month to 28 days. Later the same decision was made by a major fixed phone operator, Fastweb. Unsurprisingly, these pricing practices wet met with criticism by consumer associations that feared disguised price increases. Tim, Wind and Vodafone were then fined by the ICA for unfair commercial practices. And by the Decree Law no. 148/2017 the Italian lawmaker laid down the obligation for the telecommunication operators for billing their customers on a monthly basis. The Italian Telecommunication Authority then released guidelines o...

Combating bid-rigging practices affecting public procurement contracts in the health sector is always a high priority for the Italian Competition Authority (ICA), as reflected by its recent decision to open an antitrust investigation in the case I819 ( Gara per produzione e fornitura al sistema sanitario di farmaci plasma derivati, http://www.agcm.it/component/joomdoc/allegati-news/I819_avvio.pdf/download.html ). This time, in the case I819, the ICA considered the joint bidding of two manufacturers, Kedrion and Grifols, for the contracts for the supply of plasma derived to the health system of the region of Emilia Romagna (HSER). The temporary association of undertakings set up by Kedrion and Grifols (RTI) was the awardee of the supply contract. As is known, temporary associations of undertakings can be lawfully used for jointly bidding if its members cannot qualify for make single bids. However, in the case I819 the ICA had concern that the joint bidding of Kedrion and Grifols t...

The decision of the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) in the SIE case is about the application of the essential facilities doctrine in the daily newspaper sector, relating to the interaction between intellectual property rights and competition [1] . The ICA took the view that access to the copyrighted contents of a daily newspaper published by the dominant firm was considered as an essential input for a firm providing news review services. Refusing access to such items then constituted an abusive conduct. The facts of the case Società Iniziative Editoriali Spa (SIE) was the publisher of the daily newspapers ‘L’Adige’. Euregio Srl GmbH (Euregio) provided media intelligence services under the brand name of Infojuice. More precisely, Euregio reviewed the news published on the local press to clients in the province of Trento (PAT), among which, in particular, those published on ‘L’Adige’. Until the end of December 2016 ‘L’Adige’ was included in the Repertorio Promopress (RP) sys...

In Unilever/Distribuzione Gelati the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has imposed a € 60 million fine on Unilever for abusing its dominant position in the market for the impulse ice cream by a complex foreclosing strategy. To pursue this strategy, Unilever invited the managers of bathing establishments and bartenders to not sell anymore the ice creams of La Bomba, which produced ice-lollies generally sold in the seaside resorts of Central Italy. Unilever also threatened retailers selling competing products with the imposition of financial penalties, termination of the supply contracts and refusal to grant the rebates they were entitled to. Unilever had a dominant position in the relevant product market, the wholesale market for packaged ice creams, due to its high market shares and the strong reputation enjoyed by the Algida brand under which it marketed its products. The theory of competition harm on which the ICA relied to establish the Unilever competition liability was ...

In the Case C-12125 2i Reti Gas/Nedgia the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened a Second Phase investigation into the proposed acquisition of Nedgia Spa (Nedgia) by 2i Reti Gas Spa (2RG). The merging parties operates in the market for the services for distribution of natural gas and also supply drinkable water for a few municipalities. Though the notified merger potentially affects several relevant product markets, the ICA had only concerns on the competition impact of the transaction in the market for the provision of services for the distribution of natural gas. Considering that under the Italian legal system this activity is subject to a legal monopoly regime, the ICA explained that competition in this market is ‘ competition for the market ’. Indeed, the only form of competition in such markets is bidding for the award for the concession contract for the provision of distribution service of nature gas for the territorial ambits (ATEM) determined in the tender notic...

The Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened a phase II investigation into the acquisition of La Gardenia and Limoni by CVC (Case C12109, Profumerie Douglas/La Gardenia Beauty-Limoni ). CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS SA (CVC) is a private equity firm that provides advice and investment management services on behalf of collective investment funds. CVC owns Profumerie Douglas (Douglas) that is a retailer of cosmetics and perfumes and related products and services. La Gardenia Beauty Spa (La Gardenia) and Limoni Spa (Limoni) are owned by Orlando Italy Special Situation SICAR Sca (Orlando) and both of them are active in the retail distribution of perfumes and cosmetics. Through sale and purchase agreements concluded by Douglas and Orlando, CVC will acquire indirect and sole control of La Gardenia and Limoni. Because the proposed transaction met the jurisdictional thresholds in the EU Merger Regulation no. 139/2004 (EUMR), it had an EU dimension and was duly notified to the Commis...

By the decision handed down in the Laappeenranta Airport case [1] , the European Commission has ruled that the operating aid granted by the Finnish authorities to the airport manager fulfilled the compatibility conditions for operating aid set out by the 2014 Aviation Guidelines [2] . Therefore, the Commission approved the financial support to the Laappeenranta Airport . The objected national measure The Laappeenranta Airport is a small publicly owned airport in South-Eastern Finland near the Russian border. After the cease of the previous scheduled flights, the airport is currently served only by charter flights with a volume of annual passengers of roughly 35,000. In 2016 the Finnish authorities submitted a business plan for the development of the airport over the 2016-2024 period. To this end, Finland granted operating aid to the Laappeenranta Airport. The awarded public fund was limited to 80% of the initial operating funding gap for the 2016-2019 period. The Finnish autho...