French Insights
The most important French decisions and news in competition law now accessible in English
A winery sanctioned by the French Competition Authority for imposing minimum resale prices on its distributors
Resume: A winery has been sanctioned by the French competition authority as the author with the parent company, for having implemented practices aimed at imposing a resale price on distributors of wines in the "Uby" range, marketed under the "Côtes de Gascogne"...
A clear ban on price-fixing practices in the wine sector – The solution of introducing a “price tunnel” clause
Resume: The French Competition Authority delivered a recent opinion (no. 24-A-01, March 12, 2024) on the question to know if a wine inter-branch organization could set the price of wine products, especially wine reserves. The authority argued that such a practice...
New Sanction Imposed by the French Competition Authority: €91.6 Million Fine on Rolex for Restrictive Online Sales Practices in a Selective Distribution System
Resume: Rolex France is fined (jointly with Rolex Holding SA, the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation, and Rolex SA) to EUR 91.6 million, in a decision n°23-D-13 issued on December 19, 2023. The French Competition Authority (FCA) determined that the infringement by Rolex...
Online sales restrictions and anti-competitive practices within a distribution network: practices implemented in the luxury tea sector
Resume: In decision no. 23-D-12 of December 11, 2023, the French Competition Authority fined the Mariage Frères group 4 million euros. Mariage Frères was found guilty of anti-competitive cartel practices on the French premium tea market, for the period July 2008 to...
Authorization from the French Competition Authority for the acquisition of exclusive control in the predominantly food retail sector
Resume: In its decision 24-DCC-02 of January 11, 2024, the French Competition Authority granted Intermarché authorization to carry out a merger. The transaction involved the acquisition of 61 predominantly food retail outlets under the Casino Group banner. In fact, a...
The Competition Authority’s first enforcement of the new leniency procedure to the sale of access to databases on companies
Resume: In a recent decision, no. 23-D-04 dated April 12, 2023, the French Competition authority uses, for the first time, to fully exonerate a company guilty of price fixing and client allocation, the new leniency procedure stemming from Act no. 2020-1508 of December...
Anticompetitive practices and penalty calculation in franchise network: comparing online sales and professional clientele restrictions
Resume: In a recent decision (24-D-02, February 6th 2024), the French Competition Authority imposed a fine of 4 million euros on De Neuville and its parent company, Savencia Holding, for having implemented vertical agreements aimed at restricting, on the one hand, the...
Anticompetitive agreement among industry players regarding Bisphenol A in food packaging
Resume: In its decision numbered 23-D-15 dated December 29, 2023, the Competition Authority sanctioned a collective strategy involving three professional associations of food preservers, a syndicate of can manufacturers, and eleven companies as members of these...
Concerted practice implemented in the sector of securing tobacco: a consistent decision of the Competition Authority
Resume: In a recent decision (23-D-03, March 20th 2023) the french Competition Authority jointly and severally imposed a fine of 25,000 euros on "GROUPE SAVE" and its parent company "AGE INVEST" for implementing anti-competitive practices in the tobacconist security...
The sanction by the Competition Authority of National Confederation of French Tobacconists for the organization of boycott practices
Resume: In a recent decision of September 26, 2023, n°23-D-09, the French Competition Authority sanctioned the National Confederation of French Tobacconists for organizing boycott practices aimed at obstructing the distribution of games from the Française Des Jeux...
Restrictive competition practices: the Cour de cassation opens up a new shortcut for judicial price control
Resume: The Cour de cassation clarifies the application of article L. 442-6, I, 1° of the commercial code to the price reduction obtained from a commercial partner and confirms the application of the law on restrictive competition practices to subcontracting...
The temporal delimitation in French law of the application of the non-passing on presumption initiated by the European directive
Resume: In a recent decision (Cass. Com., October 19, 2022, No. 21-19.197), the Court of Cassation ruled on the litigation concerning the application of Directive No. 2014/104 in the context of follow-on actions brought before French courts. The dispute involved a...
Landmark Decision in French Private Enforcement of Competition Law: Clarifying Anticompetitive Damage
Resume: The recent Cour de cassation decision (Cass. Com., June 7, 2023, n°22-10.545, 2 11.099, 22-11.100, B) highlights the evolving focus on harm in private enforcement cases. The case addresses the existence of damage, recognition of the umbrella effect, and...
Continuation of commercial relations: effects of a transfer of assets and judicial control over the length of the notice period
Resume: According to the Cour de cassation, when the new owner of a company's activity breaks off its relationship with a partner who was already working with the company, this previous relationship does not count for the calculation of the notice period in the...
Application of the former Continental Can case law: the return of ex-post control of mergers involving abuse of a dominant position
Resume: In a ruling handed down on March, 16, 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union applied its earlier Continental Can case law to a reference for a preliminary ruling, stating that a competition authority may review an ex post merger for abuse of a...