Antitrust
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Commission consults on draft guidelines on joint selling of olive oil, beef and veal livestock and arable crops
15 January 2015
The Commission is inviting comments on new draft guidelines on the application of EU antitrust rules in the agricultural sector.
After a reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), new specific rules apply to the sale of olive oil, beef and veal livestock and arable crops.
In particular, the new rules allow producers to jointly commercialise these products if certain conditions are fulfilled, including that their cooperation creates significant efficiencies.
The Commission's guidelines will contribute to ensuring that the implementation of the CAP reform improves the functioning of the food supply chain and safeguards effective competition and innovation on the markets for agricultural products.
Responses to the public consultation can be submitted until 5 May 2015.
In light of the submissions received, the Commission will then review its proposal, with the aim of adopting final guidelines by the end of 2015.
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Commission's competition services publish policy brief on antitrust damages actions
13 January 2015
The new Directive 2014/104/EU on antitrust damages actions makes it a lot easier for victims of antitrust violations to claim compensation.
Among other things, it will give victims easier access to evidence they need to prove the damage suffered and more time to make their claims.
Read full policy brief >
Mergers
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Commission opens in-depth investigation into joint venture for online music licensing between collecting societies PRSfM, STIM and GEMA
14 January 2015
The Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the proposed creation of a joint venture between three collective rights management organisations (CMOs) in the online licensing of musical works is in line with the EU Merger Regulation.
The CMOs contributing to the joint venture are PRSfM of the UK, STIM of Sweden and GEMA of Germany.
CMOs manage the copyrights of authors, performers and writers of musical works. They also grant licences on their behalf and redistribute the royalties collected from the exploitation of their copyrights.
The Commission’s preliminary investigation indicated that the combination of the music repertoires currently controlled by each of PRSfM, STIM and GEMA could result in higher prices and worsened commercial conditions for digital service providers (DSPs) in the EEA.
This could lead, ultimately, to higher prices and less choice for European consumers of digital music.
DSPs provide online services to final customers, such as music downloading or streaming and to operate on the market they need licences delivered by CMOs.
Moreover, the Commission has concerns that the transaction may reduce competition in the EEA for certain copyright administration services since it would reduce the number of meaningful market players from four to two.
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Court
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