Competitive Edge: Competition & EU Law - November 2023

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In Focus

The UK subsidy control regime – the first year

The UK subsidy control regime has now been in force for nearly a year. The intention in enacting the UK Subsidy Control Act 2022 was to establish a regime that is less onerous and more flexible than the current EU State aid regime (while still retaining protections for UK competition and investment). The procedure, therefore, displays significant differences to the EU procedure. With only one CAT judgment to date, there are many legal questions still to be determined. It is still relatively early days for the new UK subsidy control regime.

Read the full story

Lexology webinar

EU Regulation on control of Foreign Subsidies: First experiences

Starting on 12 October 2023, all companies operating within the EU have to notify mergers and involvement in public procurement processes that meet certain criteria if they have received foreign subsidies (subsidies provided by a non-EU country). Companies that don't comply could be subjected to provisional measures, corrective actions, information solicitation and inspections, as well as face penalties equating to 10% of their turnover.

On 30 January, join our Competition and Public Procurement law experts José Rivas, Janneke Kohlen, Morten Nissen, Marc Martens and Peter Dann Jørgensen as they guide you through the new EU foreign subsidies regulation (FSR) and help you understand how to identify potential risks and steer clear of common pitfalls when it comes to foreign subsidies. The panelists will also share insights based on their first experiences with the FSR, as well as best practices for successfully navigating the new EU foreign subsidy control system.

More information on the webinar

Register for the free webinar

Updates from our jurisdictions

EU: Foreign Subsidies Regulation Flowchart

Our flowchart, designed to help you understand if your company must notify foreign subsidies under the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation, is now available in several languages.

With his article in the September edition of Competitive Edge “Has my company received foreign subsidies that must be notified in the EU?” José Rivas aimed at helping companies ascertain whether, after 12 October 2023, they are under an obligation to notify foreign subsidies under the new EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). This article is now also available in Chinese and Spanish.

Last month we also shared a flowchart with questions to further simplify the FSR rules, so that companies understand in an even clearer manner their notification obligations under the FSR. The flowchart is now available in several languages.

Click here to see the flowchart in English

Click here to see the flowchart in Chinese

Click here to see the flowchart in Spanish

Belgium

A new lease on life – Belgian Competition Authority confirms competence over hospital mergers and tailors analysis to specificities of the sector

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For more information, please contact Baptist Vleeshouwers or Jonathan Saké.

Denmark

Advisors need (competition law) advice too

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Morten Nissen, Alexander Brøchner or Nanna Sofie Krabbe.

Finland

Aim to increase competition in the Finnish market in the rail freight, pharma and gambling sectors

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Petteri Metsä-Tokila or Maria Karpathakis.

Hungary

The GVH intervenes: significant changes in the online booking service industry

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For more information, please contact Gábor Kutai, Marcell Fekete or Dániel Arányi.

Italy

The Italian antitrust watchdog goes green again: another environmental consortium investigated for alleged abuse of dominant position

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Federico Marini Balestra, Lucia Antonazzi or Chiara Horgan.

Netherlands

Dutch ACM Upholds its Penalty Order against Apple: Apple’s App Store Terms Are in Breach of Competition Law

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Pauline Kuipers or Tialda Beetstra.

Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority starts probe into Dutch savings market

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Janneke Kohlen or Matteo Stainer.

Poland

Bid rigging in Poland - extended criminal liability

Read the full story

For more information, please contact Stanislaw Szymanek or Marcin Alberski.

Events, webinars, conferences

Start up and tech event

Slush Investor Day

29 November 2023
Helsinki

Slush is an annual startup and tech event held over several days in Helsinki, Finland. Its aim is to facilitate meetings between the founders of startups and investors such as venture capitalists, and to build a worldwide startup community.

Bird & Bird is proud to once again sponsor 'Day 0' Investor Day at Slush, which this year is set to welcome over 1100 investors under same roof. On this day, our Copenhagen-based competition & EU lawyers Morten Nissen and Alexander Brøchner will lead an exclusive roundtable session, guiding participants through the exciting world of EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and its profound impact on investment strategies. With a focus on competition and EU law, they will help you explore how this regulation shapes the landscape for international investors in the European market, covering:

• Notification requirements for FSR compliance
• Common pitfalls to avoid
• Effective approaches to ensure successful investments.

Besides the above, Bird & Bird will also host two other exclusive roundtable sessions providing investors with valuable insights into the legal aspects of the Nordic investment market, with our international team of tech specialists offering insights on the investment landscape in relation to Cyber Security and Artificial Intelligence.

Ready to seize the future of European investment?

Learn more and meet our full Bird & Bird Slush team here 

More information on Slush 2023 

Hybrid conference

Antitrust in the Digital Age

24 November 2023
Bird & Bird office in Warsaw and online 

Together with the Polish Competition Law Association and the Global Antitrust Institute associated with George Mason University, our Polish Bird & Bird office is delighted to invite you to our upcoming international conference on the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA).

At this event, distinguished academics and practitioners will explore how global competition law, fair platform competition and digital market power abuse prevention are influenced by the DMA and the DSA. They will also discuss compliance initiatives and potential costs for enterprises, the powers to conduct unnanounced dawn raids, and ways to challenge adverse measures through judicial review.

Our London-based Legal Director Dr Saskia King will share her insights on the UK's approach and Warsaw-based Senior Associate Marcin Alberski will join the panel on DSA compliance, inspections and judicial review.

See the programme here 

Free registration for the event here 

Bird & Bird news

Key takeaways from Bird & Bird conference on Private Enforcement published in Polish antitrust journal

In May 2023 our Bird & Bird office in Warsaw organised the conference titled Antitrust Private Enforcement - Lessons for Poland in cooperation with the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies of the University of Warsaw and the Polish Competition Law Association.

A summary of the conference has now been published in iKAR, one of the most reputable antitrust journals in Poland. The article (in Polish) provides an overview of the topics discussed at the event, including the keynote speech by Jan Szczodrowski of the European Commission’s Legal Service.

Our Competition & EU experts from various jurisdictions, José Rivas, Dr. Joerg Witting, Candela Sotés, Marcin Alberski and Szymon Gołębiowski, joined or chaired panels at the event.

Read the conference summary (in Polish) on pages 117-118 

Our Competition lawyers receive Mondaq Thought Leadership Award

We are delighted to announce that two of our articles have received the Mondaq Thought Leadership - Autumn 2023 award. These articles were the most popular with readers on the Mondaq platform in the past six months, in the Antitrust/Competition law category.

Congratulations to the authors Thomas Oster and Claire Burlin (France) and Dr. Stephan Waldheim and Maren Steiert (Germany)!

See all the winning authors and their articles