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The Heads of European national competition authorities (”NCAs”) and the European Commission have agreed a set of best practices (Best Practices on Cooperation between EU National Competition Authorities in Merger Review). The Best Practices aim to foster cooperation and sharing of information between NCAs in the European Union, for mergers that do not qualify for review by the Commission itself (the one-stop shop review) but require clearance in several Member States (”multiple filing”). Read more »

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation, following an in-depth investigation, the acquisition of the hard disk drive (HDD) business of Samsung Electronics of Korea by Seagate Technology of the US. HDDs are data storage devices used in computers, laptops or camcorders. Although the merger will further consolidate markets that are already highly concentrated, the Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in EEA or any substantial part of it. Read more »

In the first meeting of the EU-South Korea Trade Committee, co-chaired between South Korea’s Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and the EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, both sides took stock of the success of the deal for business after the first one hundred days. Furthermore, the co-chairs agreed to intensify efforts to do away with any remaining obstacles and to prevent future obstacles from emerging. Read more »

European Commission officials undertook unannounced inspections at the premises of companies active in the supply, transmission and storage of natural gas in several Member States. The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have engaged in anticompetitive practices in breach of EU antitrust rules or that they are in possession of information relating to such practices. Read more »

A recent article investigates the implications of the Korea-EU FTA on the enforcement of antitrust law in Korea and the EU. It gives new insight into the application of Korean and European competition law, including subsidies, and private enforcement actions under the EU Trade Barrier Regulation. The full article is available under http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1891626.

The European Commission’s second monitoring exercise of patent settlements in the pharmaceutical sector shows a continuing decline of settlements potentially problematic under EU antitrust rules. This highlights an increased awareness of so-called originator and generic companies of which types of settlements can give rise to antitrust scrutiny – generally the so-called pay-for-delay settlements - and is good news for consumers who will benefit from cheaper pharmaceuticals. The number of patent settlements increased in 2010, however, showing that the Commission’s vigilance does not prevent firms from settling disputes successfully within the boundaries of the EU rules. Read more »

The European Commission confirmed that on 30 November 2010 Commission officials carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of a limited number of companies active in the pharmaceutical sector in several Member States. The Commission had reason to believe that the companies concerned may have acted individually or jointly, notably to delay generic entry for a particular medicine. If confirmed, this could be a potential violation of EU antitrust rules that prohibit restrictive business practices and/or the abuse of a dominant market position (Articles 101 and 102 of the EU Treaty). The Commission officials were accompanied by their counterparts from the relevant national competition authorities. Read more »

EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht, the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Steven Vanackere representing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), and the Korean Minister for Trade Kim Jong-hoon today signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and South Korea. This FTA is the most ambitious trade agreement ever negotiated by the EU and the first with an Asian country. Today’s signature signals a significant step on the road to its implementation and is one of the main events of the EU-Korea Summit taking place in Brussels today. Read more »

The Council adopted the Decision authorising the signature and provisional application of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and its Member States and the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as Korea) and to forward the agreement to the European Parliament for consent. In agreement with Korea, the signature of the FTA will take place on 6 October 2010. Read more »

The European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade will deal with the Free Trade Agreement on 25th October 2010, and the European Parliament’s plenary session is scheduled to ratify the FTA on 23th November 2010.

(Source: European Parliament Legislative Observatory)