French Insights
The most important French decisions and news in competition law now accessible in English
The authorization from the French Competitive Authority of the exclusive control of the group Stokomani by the Zouari family, already owner of many specialized stores
Resume: French Competition Authority decides on the legality of the Stokomani group’s (specialized in discount retail products and decoration) acquisition by the Zouari family, already possessing market power in the same field. The point is to reveal if such a merge...
Abuse of a dominant position: tying in the air freight transport of live animals sector to French Polynesia
Resume: By a decision ruled on February 15th, 2022, the French Competition Authority fines the French company Goldenway International pets (GIP), a company specialized in pet transportation, for abuse of a dominant position on tying in the air freight transport of...
The Paris Court of Appeal adopts a strict interpretation of the locus standi and rejects La Poste’s ancillary intervention
Resume: Following the rejection of its complaint to the French Competition Authority, Adrexo filed an appeal to the Paris Court of Appeal for the decision of the Authority to be cancelled. La Poste, which was the alleged author of the practices denounced in the...
The importance of demonstrating a lack of cost impact on the consumer in the event of a claim for compensation in the context of an anti-competitive practice
Resume: By a decision ruled on December 18, 2014, the French Competition Authority fines a company for its participation in an anti-competitive cartel in the personal hygiene products sector. The judgment, ruled on January 5, 2022 by the 5th Chamber of the Appeal...
The French Competition Authority sanctions EDF and its subsidiaries for abuse of a dominant position implying data use they detained from its historical operator position on the electricity market
Resume: In a decision rendered on February 22nd, 2022 (Decision No. 22-D-06), the French Competition Authority fined EDF and its subsidiaries €300 million for abuse of a dominant position as they used data files concerning customers thanks to EDF historical operator...
Conflict on the reallocation of the football Ligue 1’s TV rights: the French Competition Authority rejects Canal + complaint against the LFP
Resume: The dispute between the LFP and Canal+ over the reallocation of Ligue 1’s television rights continues to be a topic of discussion. In this decision issued on 30 June 2022, The Paris Court of Appeal confirms the rejection by the French Competition Authority of...
The pharmaceutical market and its protection against anti-competitive practices: the question of the link between the specificity of the market and the jurisdiction of the Competition Authority
Resume: The French Court of cassation condemned the company Janssen-Cilag for abuse of dominance in the pharmaceutical sector, by confirming that the Competition Authority could appreciate the legal frame of a specified activity sector, and added that condemning the...
Double eagle for Duval group
Resume: On May 19th 2022, the “Duval group” notified the competition authority its plan to acquire the Blue Green group. Duval and Blue Green are two operators specialised in the operation of golf courses and online course reservation platforms. The authority...
The Tribunal of the European Union sustains the Commission in the Illumina and Grail case thanks to a lengthy review of the article 22 of the Merger Regulation
Resume: The killer acquisition issue has reached a peak with Facebook-Whatsapp and Apple-Shazam Cases. As a result, thanks to a statement of the competition Commissionner Ms Margrethe VESTAGER, enshrined by a communication from the Commission, a change of doctrine in...
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...