Competition weekly news summary
18 July 2014


Mergers

  • Commission clears acquisition of Rautaruukki by rival SSAB, subject to conditions
    14 July 2014
    The Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of Rautaruukki of Finland by rival SSAB of Sweden. Both companies produce and distribute carbon steel and steel construction products. The clearance is conditional on the divestment of five businesses in Finland, Sweden and Norway. The Commission had concerns that the merger, as initially notified, would have significantly reduced competition on the markets for certain carbon steel products in the Nordic countries, as well as for stainless steel and profiled steel construction sheets in Finland. The divestments address these concerns.
    Press release >

State aid

  • Commission approves additional liquidation aid for resolution of Lithuanian bank Ukio bankas
    17 July 2014
    The Commission has concluded that LTL 128,5 million (around €37 million) additional compensation granted by Lithuania to Siauliu bank in the context of the resolution of Ukio bankas was in line with EU rules on state aid to banks during the crisis. In August 2013, the Commission had authorised state aid supporting the resolution of the Lithuanian bank AB Ukio Bankas. The bank had been declared insolvent in February 2013 and part of its assets and liabilities have been taken over by another Lithuanian bank, AB Siauliu Bankas, selected in a competitive process. The cash grant of LTL 799 million (around €231.4 million) foreseen by Lithuania intended to bridge the gap between the value of the transferred assets and liabilities. However, the final valuation of assets and liabilities determined that the difference was in fact LTL 128.5 million larger than estimated. The original agreement foresaw that the parties should compensate Siauliu bank for this difference or Siauliu bank could terminate the agreement. The Lithuanian authorities chose to compensate Siauliu bank with an additional cash grant of LTL 128.5 million. The Commission found that the additional compensation represented the difference in value of the transferred assets and liabilities and was necessary for an orderly resolution of Ukio.
    Public case file >
    Read more about Commission's August 2013 decision >

Competition

  • ECN publishes July issue of ECN Brief
    17 July 2014
    The European Competition Network (ECN) has published the July issue of its news brief. Among other news, this issue reports on enforcement actions in a wide range of sectors, such as music copyright management, medicines and insurance, as well as on legislative or policy activities, in particular a Commission Communication on ten years of antitrust enforcement under Regulation 1/2003, a White paper on EU merger control and a revised antitrust De Minimis Notice.
    Go to ECN Brief >
  • Commission calls for proposals 2014 for training of national judges OPEN
    2 June 2014
    The Commission has published the 2014 call for proposals for training national judges in competition matters. The purpose is to co-finance projects aimed at promoting training and judicial cooperation on the enforcement of EU competition rules for national judges. This includes public and private enforcement of antitrust and state aid rules. The aim is to ensure a consistent application of EU competition rules. The deadline for applications is 29 August 2014.
    Go to call for proposals >

Court

  • Cases C-553/12P and C-154/12P (Greek lignite)
    17 July 2014
    The EU Court of Justice ruled on the Commission's appeals against two General Court rulings of 2012 that had annulled two Commission decisions regarding special rights granted by Greece to the publicly-owned electricity incumbent DEI. The March 2008 decision, had found that by granting DEI privileged access to lignite, Greece maintained or reinforced DEI's dominant position on the Greek wholesale electricity market. The August 2009 decision had made binding upon Greece to adopt measures that it had proposed in order to grant competitors of DEI sufficient access to lignite. DEI had appealed both decisions and the GC had annulled them in 2012, ruling that the Commission had not identified a concrete abuse within the meaning of Article 102 TFEU to which the State measure led or could lead DEI. The Commission appealed the judgments to the EUCJ. The EUCJ has now set aside the two GC rulings. The EUCJ held, in particular, that an infringement of Article 106 TFEU in conjunction with Article 102 TFEU may exist, even if the Commission has not identified any actual abuse. The EUCJ further ruled that it was sufficient for the Commission to identify a potential or actual anti-competitive consequence liable to result from the State measure at issue. The EUCJ referred the cases back to the GC for a ruling on the substance.
    Read full EUCJ judgment on 2008 decision >
    Read full EUCJ judgment on 2009 decision >
    Read full GC judgment on 2008 decision >
    Read full GC judgment on 2009 decision >
    Read more on Commission's 2009 decision >
    Read more on Commission's 2008 decision >
  • Case T-457/09 (WestLB state aid case)
    17 July 2014
    The General Court ruled on an action for annulment by Westfälisch Lippischer Sparkassenverband, one of the former owners on the German bank WestLB, against a Commission decision of 2009 regarding the restructuring of WestLB. The GC entirely dismissed the appeal and upheld all the Commission's findings.
    Read full judgment >
  • cases T-295/12, T-309/12 (state aid case Zweckverband Tierkörperbeseitigung
    16 July 2014
    The General Court ruled on actions for annulment of a Commission decision of April 2012 that had ordered Germany to recover incompatible aid from Zweckverband Tierkörperbeseitigung. The GC dismissed the appeals and entirely upheld the Commission's findings.
    Read full judgment on Germany's action >
    Read full judgment on Zweckverband's action >
    Read more about Commission's 2012 decision >

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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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