The Foreign Subsidies Regulation’s (FSR) concentration and public procurement tool came into force one year ago in October 2023. Its first year of application has shown that the European Commission is determined to make use of its new tools to tackle third-country subsidies distorting competition in the EU internal market. In this briefing, we provide an overview of the most important FSR rules and the lessons learned from their first application.

Empty supermarket shelves are an image German consumers have become quite used to over the recent years. Haribo gummy bears were no longer for sale at Lidl for a while, Dr. Oetker's pizza could not be shopped in Kaufland freezers and Mars stopped delivering EDEKA for a long time. It seems that increasing costs, e.g. for energy, transportation, production, have translated into price fights between manufacturers facing increased production costs on the one side, and retailers on the other, who try to keep price raises at bay knowing the hardship of passing them on to end consumers. What is interesting from a competition law perspective is that a number of these conflicts not only gained fairly high press attention but were even escalated to civil courts, where competition law arguments played a core role.

In the world of high-stakes mergers and acquisitions, even the best-laid plans can falter. Just ask Illumina and GRAIL, who recently found themselves at the center of an unprecedented European Commission fine—EUR 432 million, no less—for allegedly “jumping the gun.” While the Commission decision was later annulled by the European Court of Justice (CJEU) on jurisdictional grounds, the case underscores a critical lesson for businesses: the risks of prematurely implementing a transaction before securing the necessary clearances are all too real. As companies venture into the German market, navigating both merger control and foreign direct investment (FDI) rules becomes even more complex. Knowing where to draw the line between preparation and premature action is essential. The stakes are high, and compliance with these frameworks is crucial to avoid costly penalties and safeguard the successful completion of M&A transactions.

The rise of digital business models has reshaped retail landscapes worldwide, fostering significant consolidation within various markets. Online platforms and e-commerce giants such as Amazon, Temu and Alibaba have leveraged their vast resources, extensive reach, and sophisticated data analytics to dominate market segments, often at the expense of smaller players. This consolidation trend poses significant challenges for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seeking to compete. SMEs, typically lacking the scale and technological infrastructure of their larger competitors, struggle to effectively navigate the competitive pressures imposed by digital giants. In addition, the advertising spend required to be only nearly as visible as the large rivals’ offerings among Google search results, is out of reach for many of these smaller players. Limited access to capital, constrained marketing budgets, and difficulties in adapting to rapidly evolving digital trends further exacerbate their challenges. As a result, SMEs face an uphill battle in maintaining market relevance and sustaining profitability.

Getting a free ride is not always easy and can be a long and bumpy journey. The recent judgment in the Booking.com case is a testament to this. Below, we summarize the twists and turns of this landmark case.

Take a seat and grab some popcorn. The DMA series, starring the six gatekeepers Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft and Byte Dance continues. The European Commission has been an active director who has not been exclusively happy with the performance of its main actors. Have business users or end users acted as supporting actors so far or have they only been extras? Here is what happened since the DMA entered into force through the lens of a camera team.

Sustainability and competition law has been a hotly debated topic. While some competition authorities have dedicated specific guidelines for cooperations among competitors in the name of sustainability, the German Federal Cartel Office (FCO) has been adamant that it will adopt a case-by-case approach and that guidance can only be derived from specific precedents. It has continuously invited companies to bring forward specific cases - and sometimes the president of the FCO, Andreas Mundt, jokingly even questioned whether there was really such a big need for guidance given the low numbers of precedents on which the FCO‘s position was actively requested. Last week, the FCO finally had another chance to provide its assessment and expressed its support for a project introducing a reusable system in the plant trade sector to reduce plastic waste (see press release).

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time on: Real-time access to gatekeeper data for business users under Article 6(10) DMA.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time we focus on: Regulators’ attempts to tame digital markets worldwide in the wake of DMA.

In our series of briefings, we recap the key milestones of the DMA implementation, deep dive into the various obligations that gatekeepers are facing, lay out the DMA’s implications for stakeholders who are not (currently) within the direct scope of the legislation and update you on the current status of affairs in the DMA’s implementation.

This time we focus on: access to data and services.