French Insights
The most important French decisions and news in competition law now accessible in English
Amazon under fire for abuse of dominance in antitrust proceedings – Comparative study of different procedures
Resume: On May 25, 2021, the Washington Attorney General Karl Racine opened an antitrust proceeding against the American giant Amazon. This latest case is one of the many that the company is facing, both in its home country and across the Atlantic in Europe. To quote...
Uber and competition law
Resume: Since 2011, the company Uber has been active on the passenger transport market. With it, a new competition appears for a profession that was alone on this market for a long time: taxis. Uber is a new business model, a new vision of entrepreneurship with what...
French justice rules out Carrefour for restrictive competition practices during its commercial negotiations
Summary: On February 22th this year, Carrefour was fined €1.75 million by the Paris Commercial Court for restrictive competition practicesafter 5 years of proceedings.We will come back to a case which is the first legal illustration of the new will of the French...
FinTech sector inquiry: The French Competition Authority issues its opinion
Resume: On April 29, 2021, the French competition authority published its opinion on the sector of new technologies applied to payment activities. Faced with the major changes in the payments sector, the Authority has identified several points of vigilance. To quote...
The sandwich cartel goes before the French Competition Authority
Resume: The French competition authority, in its decision n°21-D-09 of March 24th, 2021, has imposed a sanction on three French sandwich producers for a cartel that lasted for more than 6 years on the sandwich production market. The decision highlights the importance...
The French Constitutional Council censures provisions about fines pronounced by the French Competition Authority in case of obstruction during investigations
Resume: In a judgment of March 26th, 2021, the French Constitutional Council censures paragraph V of article L. 464-2 of the French Commercial Code about fines pronounced by the French Competition Authority against obstruction attempts during investigations. To quote...
The French Constitutional Court struck down the structural injunction mechanism introduced in the article 39 of “Macron’s Law”
Resume: In the decision n°2015-715 DC of August 5th, 2015, the French Constitutional judge ruled unconstitutional article 39 of August 6th, 2015 Law. This article gave the French Competition Authority the possibility to adopt structural injunction measures against...
The prohibition of parity clauses in the online booking sector: A price war in perspective
Resume: In the decision 19-D-23 issued on December 10th, 2019, the French Competition Authority decided not to pursue its investigation into hotel booking platforms Expedia and HRS which has started in 2013 after complaints from French hotel unions and the Accor group...
Google fined for an abuse of dominance in the online search advertising market!
Resume: In the decision n°19-D-26 of December 19th, 2019, the French Competition Authority fined Google because of its non-transparent, discriminatory and inequitable general conditions seen as an abuse of its dominant position on the online search advertising market....
Contribution of the French Competition Authority to the climate change issues
Resume: Alongside nine independent administrative institutions, the French Competition Authority has published a working paper on its role in the fight against global warming. The authority presented the tools it has at its disposal to assist economic players in...
Denial of access to an essential facility: the French Competition Authority dismisses the complaint of the Association of Alternative Operators (AOTA) against the practices implemented by Orange in the electronic communications sector
Summary: In decision 20-D-02 from January 23, 2020, the French Competition Authority (FCA) dismisses the referral on the merits of the case by the Association des Opérateurs Télécoms Alternatifs (AOTA) for lack of evidence and, therefore, the request for protective...
The French Competition Authority blocked a merger for the very first time!
Resume: A very first! Last summer, the French Competition Authority (FCA) blocked a merger for the first time since its creation in 2009. The operation showed a risk of coordinated effects that would have harmed competition by creating a duopoly. Neither the...
The French Competition Authority fines Apple a record of €1.1 billion: a renewed use of abuse of economic dependence
Summary: In the Apple decision number 20-D-04 of March 16th, 2020, the French Competition Authority fined Apple a record fine of €1.1 billion after finding that it had infringed competition law by practicing resale price maintenance and division of products and...
Exposure of Google’s business secrecy in a French Competition Authority’s decision: who has jurisdiction?
Summary: A decision of the Tribunal des conflits involving Google gathers the business secrecy litigation in antitrust procedures under the jurisdiction of the sole judiciary order. The case creates an occasion to present the way the French Competition...
Price-fixing agreement in the online sale of high-end tea: the French Competition Authority fines Dammann Frères
Summary: Hot tea! In decision 20-D-20 from December 3rd, 2020, the French Competition Authority found Dammann Frères guilty of price-fixing practices in the online resale of its products by distributors. In the same decision, the Authority also rejected the complaint...