Summer break
Dear subscriber,
In view of the reduced number of decisions to be issued over the next
few weeks, the competition weekly news summary will not be circulated
every Friday - this is the last issue for July and August.
The next edition,
summarising developments during August, will be published on 4
September.
Antitrust
-
Commission sends
Statement of Objections on cross-border provision of pay-TV services
available in UK and Ireland
23 July 2015
The European Commission has today sent a Statement of Objections to
Sky UK and six major US film studios: Disney, NBCUniversal,
Paramount Pictures, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. The
Commission takes the preliminary view that each of the six studios
and Sky UK have bilaterally agreed to put in place contractual
restrictions that prevent Sky UK from allowing EU consumers located
elsewhere to access, via satellite or online, pay-TV services
available in the UK and Ireland. Without these restrictions, Sky UK
would be free to decide on commercial grounds whether to sell its
pay-TV services to such consumers requesting access to its services,
taking into account the regulatory framework including, as regards
online pay-TV services, the relevant national copyright laws.
Read more >
Mergers
-
Commission approves
Nokia´s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent
24 July 2015
The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation
the proposed acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia. Both companies
are global providers of telecommunications equipment and related
services. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not
raise competition concerns, in particular because the parties are
not close competitors and since a number of strong global
competitors will remain active after the transaction.
Read more >
State aid
-
Commission approves
liquidation aid for Italian bank Banca Romagna Cooperativa
18 July 2015
The European Commission has decided that an Italian liquidation
measure in favour of a small Italian cooperative bank "Banca Romagna
Cooperativa – Credito Cooperativo Romagna Centro e Macerone" (Banca
Romagna Cooperativa) is compatible with EU state aid rules.
Read more >
-
Commission orders
France to recover €1.37 billion in incompatible aid from EDF
22 July 2015
The European Commission has decided that Électricité de France
(EDF), the main electricity provider in France, has been granted tax
breaks incompatible with EU rules on State aid. In 1997 France did
not levy all the corporation tax payable by EDF when certain
accounting provisions were reclassified as capital. This tax
exemption conferred on EDF an undue economic advantage compared with
other operators on the market and so distorted competition. In order
to remedy this distortion, EDF must now repay that aid. The
Commission reopened its investigation in 2013 following annulment of
an earlier decision by the EU Court of Justice.
Read more >
-
Commission approves
public financing of Fehmarn Belt fixed rail-road link
23 July 2015
The European Commission has approved the public financing model of
the Fehmarn Belt fixed rail-road link between Denmark and Germany,
considering it in line with EU state aid rules. The Fehmarn Belt
fixed rail-road link is a key element to complete the main
North-South route connecting central Europe and the Nordic
countries. The financing model notified by Denmark involves public
support for the planning, construction and operation of the
rail-road fixed link and the Danish rail and road connections.The
costs of the entire project are estimated to be DKK 64.4 billion
(€8.7 billion), part of which is funded by the European Union
through the Connecting Europe Facility (see p.106 of the 2014
CEF Proposal).
Read more >
-
Commission approves
€117 million in investment aid for NEXEN tyre plant in Czech
Republic
23 July 2015
The European Commission has approved regional investment aid
totalling almost €117million (CZK 3 207 million) to Nexen Tire
Corporation Czech s.r.o. (Nexen) for the construction of a tyre
production plant in Žatec, Czech Republic. The Commission found that
the aid granted by the Czech Republic was compatible with EU state
aid rules, and that it promotes regional development without unduly
distorting competition in the internal market.
Read more >
|