French Insights
The most important French decisions and news in competition law now accessible in English
The French Competition Authority fines 3 laboratories for abusive efforts to segment the market
Resume: In a decision dated September 9, 2020 (Decision No. 20-D-11 of September 9, 2021 concerning practices implemented in the age-related macular degeneration (AMD) treatment sector), the French Competition Authority imposed a fine of € 444 million on Genentech,...
The new merger control guidelines: between evolution and clarification, the modernization of procedure and substance
Resume: On July 23, 2020, the French Competition Authority published new guidelines for merger control. The previous ones were dated July 10, 2013, therefore, the evolution of the practice may have shown that it was necessary to make a common guide for the management...
Google sanctioned by the French Competition Authority for abuse of dominant position in its self-preferencing on the online advertising market
Resume: On June 7th, 2021, Google was fined €220 million by the French competition authority for abuse of dominance in antitrust on the market for advertising servers for online publishers and mobile applications, in violation of articles L. 420-2 of the French...
The Court of Appeal of Paris on the basis of an expert report condemns jointly and severally two firms to compensate the prejudice they caused for their anti-competitive practice
Resume: After the European Commission fined companies for a cartel on animal feed phosphates in 2010 including Timab and CFPR companies, a follow-on action has been brought by the Doux Aliments companies before the French courts in order to be compensated for the...
Price fixing and prohibition of online sales: French competition authority fines companies in the sunglasses and eyewear sector
Resume: On July 22, 2021, after a long year of proceedings, the French Competition Authority heavily fined several companies involved in the sunglasses and eyewear sector, and in particular Luxottica, for restricting the pricing freedom of their official distributors,...
The appreciable effect on trade between Member states reframed by the highest French court
Resume: The significant effect on trade between member states is not only the result of effects that have already been observed. It can also be characterized on the basis of a set of indicators of which the ratio between overall sales and national sales is only one...
The french yogurt cartel : Cass. com 24 juin 2020 Andros et Cie n°17-20177
Resume: By a decision of March 11, 2015, the “Autorité de la concurrence” established that producers of dairy products, including the company Novandie and its parent company, the company Andros et Cie, had breached the provisions of Articles 101 of the Treaty on the...
The Paris Court of Appeal declares itself incompetent to judge a dispute concerning the communication made by the French Competition Authority on one of its decision
Resume: The decision delivered by the Paris Court of Appeal on May 12, 2021 follow the decision of the French Competition Authority (FCA) dated Septembre 9, 2020 (No. 20-D-11). The dispute arose from the communication of this decision by the FCA. Indeed, the company...
Continuation and end of the conflict between the French Football league and the French audiovisual group Canal + concerning the reallocation of the broadcasting rights of the Ligue 1 de Football after the Mediapro disaster
Resume: In this decision issued on 11 June 2021, the French Competition Authority rejects the complaint lodged by the Canal+ group against the French Football League (LFP) in the matter of the reallocation of the broadcasting rights of the Ligue 1. The Authority...
Predatory pricing: What method was undertaken in the implementation of the cost test and what elements were retained in the search for the characterization of an abuse of a dominant position?
Resume: This judgment of Court of Cassation reinforces the principle that the costs of competitors of a dominant company practicing predatory pricing must be disregarded in the implementation of the cost test. In the same way, it underlines, once again, the importance...
The information report on digital platforms written by French MP’s
Resume: On the 25th of June 2020, The French National Assembly issued an information report about the digital platforms. The deputies highlighted the very fast development of the digital platforms and their impact on the market and its users. Moreover, in front of the...
The French Competition Authority recognized for the first time the existence of a market for organic products
Resume: In a decision dated September 10, 2021 (Décision n°21-DCC-161 du 10 septembre 2021 : pris de contrôle exclusif de certaines activités du groupe Bio c’Bon par la société Carrefour France), the French Competition Authority authorized the acquisition of Bio c’Bon...
French National Assembly’s report on ex ante regulation: objectives and difficulties of the DMA
Resume: On the eve of the French Presidency in the Council of the European Union in January 2022, the European Affairs Committee of the National French Assembly presented an information report on the Digital Market Act on 23 July 2021, introduced by Mrs. Christine...
The resurrection of Continental Can’s ex-post merger control?
Resume: With its decision, dated July 16, 2021, N°20/04300, the Paris Court of Appeal asked the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling to find out whether Article 102 of the TFEU can be applied to a concentration which would be below the thresholds of...
The calculation of a financial penalty for companies of the same group, convicted for cartel according by the Paris Court of Appeal
Resume: In this decision of the Paris Court of Appeal (CA Paris, 18 June 2020, n°19/08826), on referral from the Court of Cassation, the Court has to determine the amount of the penalty imposed on two companies, one of which is the subsidiary of the other, convicted...