Introduction The EU Withdrawal Bill is probably one of the most controversial and important constitutional UK Parliamentary Bills of modern times. This is the Bill that will pave the way for the UK to leave the European Union and ensures that the UK retains in its wake a functioning statutory framework after Brexit. The aim is to provide legal certainty when converting existing EU law on the day the UK leaves the EU (“Exit Day”) into UK law. However, muddled –Read More–
On 4 December 2017, the Bundeskartellamt (German Federal Cartel Office — FCO) announced it had banned CTS Eventim from having exclusive agreements with its promoter and box office partners. Based in Munich, CTS Eventim is the operator of the largest ticketing system in Germany and holds a dominant position in the relevant market. The company provides ticketing services for event organisers and advance booking offices, organises music tours and festivals, and is particularly known for its ticket online shop “eventim.de”. –Read More–
The French Competition Authority (“FCA”) ended the year with two punitive decisions: in both cases, the parties were severely sanctioned for obstructionist behavior. In the first decision dated 20 December 2017, the FCA imposed a 25 million euro fine on pharmaceutical company Janssen-Cilag and its parent company Johnson & Johnson, for having prevented and then restricted the development of generic versions of its Durogesic analgesic (a medicine aimed at alleviating the pain of individuals, in particular children, suffering from cancer). –Read More–
Introduction One of the key concerns of merging parties in any transaction is the steps they are allowed to take prior to the clearance of the merger. A recent case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (Case C‑633/16 Ernst & Young P/S Konkurrencerådet) has recently had to address this particular issue. On 18 January 2018, Advocate General Wahl handed down an opinion which provided helpful guidance on what steps companies could take without rendering themselves liable for –Read More–
A recent public procurement decision of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court highlights the possibility that aggrieved suppliers in public procurement cases in the UK run the risk of losing their future rights to damages in post-Brexit Britain unless they are specifically retained under the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. One of the UK Government’s redlines in the Brexit negotiations was not being subject to the rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). However the EU –Read More–
