competitionlaw

Once again, the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 102 TFEU investigation against a pharma firm into an alleged excessive pricing. This time, in Leadiant (Case A524, LeadiantBiosciences/Farmaco per la cura della Xanatosi Cerebrotendinea ), the ICA focused on the pricing of an orphan generics drug, Chenodeoxycholic Acid Leadiant (CAL). This drug, which contains the active principle of chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), is produced by Leadiant Biosciences Ltd (LB) and used for the treatment of a very rare disease, CTX. In June 2017 LB applied to the Italian drug authority (AIFA) for a market authorization (MA) for the CAL. The procedure is still to be finalized because no agreement was reached as to the selling price of the drug. The price indicated by LB was considered too high by AIFA and then LB asked for the suspension of the negotiation. The ICA opened the antitrust investigation against LB following the receipt of a complaint filed by a consumer association. ...

Introduction Two years after its no-infringement decision in the Case 2017-C02- Amazon, in the Case n. 2019-MCP-01, Amazon ServicesEurope , the Luxembourg Competition Authority (LCA) once again dealt with the issue whether the Amazon’s policies as for the access of independent sellers to its e-marketplace constituted an abusive of dominant position. This time, by the decision of 3 July 2019 in Amazon Services Europe, the LCA considered an application for interim measures against Amazon Services Europe Sarl (Amazon). This request was filed by a merchant that claimed that the Amazon’s decision to foreclose him from its online platforms access breached competition law. The application was rejected by the LCA because the statutory requirements for the granting of interim measures were not satisfied. The facts of the case The facts of the case in Amazon Services Europe were similar to those in Amazon. The applicant, Mr. HD, was a France-based independent seller admitted to the A...

By a decision made on 17 July 2019 in the case I833 the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) has opened an Article 101 TFEU investigation against four suppliers of ICT goods and services (Converge, Italware, Computer Gross and Zucchetti). These firms were alleged to have coordinated their conducts in relation to three competitive tender procedures organized in the 2015-2017 period by Consip, the central purchasing body for the Italian public administration, for the award of several contracts for the purchase of PC desktops and related services. The ICA decided to start the procedure following the receipt of a report prepared by the financial police on the offers submitted by the parties in response to the Consip’s tender notices. All the lots put on tender by Consip but one, for which the winner was Zucchetti, were awarded to Converge and Italware. Some aspects of the bidding patterns of the parties drew the attention of the ICA that considered them as indicia of a collusive agree...

The European Commission has recently published the public version of its decision made in the Vinci Airports/Gatwick Airport ( Case M.9270 ) that approved a vertical merger in the airport sector. By the proposed merger, Vinci Airports (Vinci) acquired the sole control of Ivy Topco Limited (ITL) that indirect controls Gatwick Airport Limited (GAL), the manager of the London-based Gatwick Airport. The Commission took the view that this merger operation did not rise any serious competition concerns and authorized it without imposing any conditions on the merging parties. Quite oddly, in spite of the fact that Vinci manages and operates several airports in the EU, the Commission did not believe that the transaction would have horizontal anti-competitive effects in the market for management and operation of airport infrastructures. Instead, the Commission was worried about the possible vertical anti-competitive effects. In that regard, it identified two vertical relationships between ...

The Italian antitrust authority targets an abusive conduct in the gas natural market By a decision made on 12 March 2019 [1] , the Italian Competition Authority (ICA) opened an antitrust enquiry against the current holders of the concessions for the provision of distribution services for natural gas in the area of Genoa. The conducts of the incumbents allegedly interfered with the tender competition called for by the municipality of Genoa to award a new concession for the distribution of natural gas The facts of the case Ireti, Italgas Reti and 2I Rete Gas are the current providers of the services for the distribution of natural gas in the territorial ambit named ATEM Genova 1 that encompasses 24 municipalities in the metropolitan area of Genoa. According to the relevant regulatory framework, the Municipality of Genoa (MoG), as contracting authority, had to launch a competitive tender procedure for the award of the new concession contracts for the distribution of natural g...

Introduction In the Tercas case [1] the General Court of the European Union (GC) has annulled a previous decision by which the Commission found illegal and incompatible state aid in support package granted by national authorities to a bank. The GC held that the Commission had wrongly qualified the national measures as state aid. Indeed, the Commission failed to demonstrate that the measures were attributable to the state and used public resources. These are constitutive elements of the notion of state aid and are essential conditions for the application of Article 107 TFEU. The legal background The Fondo interbancario di tutela dei depositi (FITD) is a private law consortium set up by Italian banks on voluntarily basis in 1987. The purpose of the FITD is to run a guarantee scheme for the depositors and it was recognized by the financial supervisor in charge, the Bank of Italy (BI), as one of the deposit guarantee schemes authorised to operate in Italy in accordance to Dire...

As is known, Luxembourg is the only jurisdiction within the EU to have not adopted a merger control regime. Notwithstanding that, on the basis of the Continental Can doctrine developed by EU court the Luxembourg Competition Authority (Conseil de la Concurrence or CdlC) can ascertain whether the implementation of a merger is compatible with the EU and corresponding national rules on abusive conducts. The CdlC followed this approach in Utopia where it considered whether a horizontal merger in the market for the management of movie theatres resulted in merged entity abusing its dominant position. More recently, in Fédération des Artisans v Encevo the CdlC dealt with the question whether the Continental Can doctrine could also apply to a non-horizontal merger. The Encevo Group (Encevo) is the Luxembourg energy leader and a key supplier of natural gas and electricity. Paul Wagner & Fils (PWF) is the leading player in the Luxembourg market for fitting buildings with technical fa...