Competition weekly news summary
12 September 2014

Conferences and Speeches

  • Looking back at five years of competition enforcement in the EU
    Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium (Georgetown), Washington, Joaquín Almunia
    10 September 2014
    "Competition policy is a pillar of Europe’s internal market and the internal market is the single largest asset Europe has to create value and jobs. It is our decisive competitive advantage."
    Read full speech >
  • Mergers and the Regulatory Environment
    Fordham Conference on Antitrust Law and Policy, New York, Carles Esteva Mosso 11 September 2014
    "[...] large multinationals involved are repeatedly asking us to stop concentrating on national markets. Instead, because they operate globally, they want us to look at the global picture. However, we cannot choose market definitions as we please, any more than we can change the weather in Brussels. Market definitions are not policy statements. They are investigations into facts. We make a comprehensive and accurate analysis of competitive constraints. In other words, we define product or geographic markets based on market realities."
    Read full speech >

Mergers

  • Commission approves acquisition of hazelnut company Oltan by Ferrero
    12 September 2014
    The Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of the hazelnuts trading and processing company Oltan by Ferrero of Luxembourg. Ferrero is a rival of Oltan, through Stelliferi, in the procurement and supply of hazelnuts and, at the same time, a customer of Oltan. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise any competition concerns, in particular because the merged entity will continue to face sufficiently strong competition after the merger and customers will still have sufficient alternative suppliers in all markets concerned.
    Read more >
  • Commission approves acquisition of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia by BSkyB
    11 September 2014
    The Commission has authorised the proposed acquisition of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia by Sky Broadcasting Group ("BSkyB") of the UK. All three companies are media companies, active primarily in the pay TV sector. Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia are currently owned by 21st Century Fox of the US. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not raise competition concerns, since the activities of the three companies are geographically complementary.
    Read more >
  • Commission approves merger between Hapag Lloyd and CSAV in container liner shipping sector, subject to conditions
    11 September 2014
    The Commission has cleared the proposed merger between Hapag Lloyd, a German shipping company with worldwide activities, and rival Compañia Sud Americana de Vapores S.A. ("CSAV") of Chile. The clearance is conditional upon the withdrawal of CSAV from two consortia on the trade between Northern Europe and the Caribbean and South America's West Coast, where the merged entity would have faced insufficient competitive constraint to avoid a risk of price raises. The commitments offered by the two companies address these concerns.
    Read more >
  • Commission approves acquisition of several of Rockwood's chemical businesses by Huntsman, subject to conditions
    10 September 2014
    Following an in-depth investigation, the European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of a number of Rockwood's chemical businesses by Huntsman, both of the US. The clearance is conditional upon the divestment of Huntsman's TR52 business. TR52 is Huntsman's main titanium dioxide grade used for printing ink applications (such as printing inks used in flexible packaging). The Commission had concerns that the transaction, as originally notified, would have enabled the merged entity to raise prices of titanium dioxide for printing ink applications in the EEA. The commitments offered by Huntsman address these concerns.
    Read more >
  • Commission approves acquisition of Holcim assets by Cemex in the building materials sector
    9 September 2014
    Following an in-depth investigation, the Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of the Spanish operations of the Swiss building materials group Holcim ("Holcim assets") by its Mexican rival Cemex. Cemex and Holcim are global suppliers of cement and other building materials. The Holcim assets comprise plants and quarries dedicated to the production and supply of cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete and mortar in Spain. The Commission concluded that the acquisition would not raise competition concerns since the merged entity will continue to face sufficient competition from its rivals in all markets concerned.
    Read more >

State aid

  • Competition policy brief on state aid rules for films and other audio-visual works
    12 September 2014
    Go to policy brief >
  • Commission endorses investment aid to Apollo Hungary for production of tyres in Gyöngyöshalász
    8 September 2014
    The Commission has found that regional investment aid totalling €95.7 million (approximately HUF 29 billion) to Apollo Tyres for the construction of a tyre plant in Gyöngyöshalász (Northern Hungary) is in line with EU state aid rules. The Commission found that the aid granted by Hungary favours regional development while any distortions of competition will remain limited.
    Read more >

Court

  • Commission welcomes Court judgment confirming that MasterCard's payment card interchange fees are anti-competitive
    11 September 2014
    The Commission welcomes today's judgement by the EU Court of Justice in the MasterCard case. The judgment confirms that MasterCard's inter-bank fees for cross-border payment transactions in the EEA restrict competition in the Internal Market, in breach of EU competition rules.
    Read more >
    Court's press release >
    Full EUCJ judgment >
    Full General Court judgment >
    More about Commission's 2007 MasterCard decision >
  • Case C-67/13 P Groupement des cartes bancaires
    11 September 2014
    The EUCJ ruled on an appeal against a GC judgment of November 2012 that had upheld a Commission decision of October 2007 finding that certain tariff measures implemented by Groupement des Cartes Bancaires restricted competition by hindering the issuance of cards at competitive prices. The EUCJ set aside the earlier GC ruling, insofar as it had held that the tariff measures had as their object the restriction of competition. The EUCJ referred the case back to the GC, in order to examine whether the tariff measures had the effect of restricting competition.
    Court's press release >
    Full EUCJ judgment >
    Full GC judgment >
    More about Commission's 2007 decision >
  • Case C-527/12 – state aid to Biria Group
    11 September 2014
    The EUCJ ruled on an action by the Commission regarding Germany's failure to recover incompatible state aid from Biria. A Commission decision of 2010, upheld by the EU General Court in 2013, had found that state aid granted by Germany to the Biria Group was incomaptible and had to be paid back. The EUCJ ruled that by not recovering the incompatible aid from Biria, Germany had breached its obligations under the Commission's 2010 decision.
    Full EUCJ judgment >
    Full GC judgment >
  • Case T-425/11 state aid to Greek casinos
    11 September 2014
    The EU General Court ruled on an appeal by Greece against a Commission decision of May 2011 finding that Greece had granted incompatible state aid to certain casinos. The GC annulled the Commission's decision.
    Full judgment >
    More about Commission's 2011 decison >
  • Case T-461/12 state aid for Lübeck airport
    9 September 2014
    The EU General Court ruled on an appeal by the city of Lübeck against a Commission decision of February 2012 opening an in-depth investigation on several public measures granted in favour of Lübeck airport. The GC partly annulled the Commission's decison with regard to one of the measures under investigation.
    Full judgment >
    More about Commission's 2012 decision >
  • Case T-516/11 MasterCard's access request to cards study
    9 September 2014
    The EU General Court ruled on an appeal by MasterCard against a Commission decison of 2011 refusing MasterCards request for access to the first part (methodology) of a study on the cost for merchants of accepting payment in cash or by card. The GC annulled the Commission's decision.
    Read full GC judgment >

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Published by the Competition Directorate General of the European Commission. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the official position of the European Commission. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use which might be made of the above information.

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