Blog o’ Blogs August

August 2016, Volume 8, Number 7

Summer goes on, and it’s not all fun and games! Brexit continues to rattle the boat of EU regulation, while across the Atlantic US authorities keep working through a heavy year full of challenging cases to review. July also brings us more contemplative pieces, taking a step back from the chaos and perfect for a summertime recap.

No toying around – the FCO makes Lego change its discount system to better accommodate online sales
Silke Heinz (Kluwer Competition)
The German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) terminated antitrust proceedings against toy manufacturer Lego on July 18, 2016, following Lego’s agreement to change its current rebate system. Lego will enable online retailers to obtain in practice the same amount of discounts as available for brick and mortar shops…

The dangerously distorted incentives created by the CMA’s performance target
Bruce Lyons (Competition Policy)
The CMA has recently published its annual reportand associated impact assessment. Its performance management framework commits the CMA “to achieving direct financial benefit to consumers of at least ten times our cost to the taxpayer.

Snapshots vs. panoramic views of merger enforcement
Kelly Signs (FTC Bureau of Competition)
Today the FTC and DOJ released the 38th Annual Hart-Scott-Rodino Report, which details the agencies’ merger review and enforcement program for Fiscal Year 2015 (October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015). This report, like the 37 previous versions, is a snapshot of one year’s worth of HSR filings, Second Requests and merger enforcement actions.

The Power of Data: Is It Worth All The Hype?
Michael Ristaniemi & T. Alexander Puutio (Kluwer Competition)
The role of data and how it can harm competition is a recurring topic in contemporary antitrust literature. Below, we highlight a few points integral to understanding what the fuss is all about.

Judge Rakoff Ditches Uber’s Attempted Arbitration Detour
Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)
Plaintiff Spencer Meyer is litigating a class action lawsuit against Uber for alleged price fixing.

Competition law developments in East Asia – July 2016
(Norton Rose Fulbright)
China merger control comes of age; CCS partially settles case against lift spare parts suppliers…

What does it take to settle a merger case?
Sean Sullivan and Ben Gris(FTC Bureau of Competition)
Look at any recent merger settlement accepted by the Commission and the answer is clear: An acceptable merger remedy must eliminate the potential for anticompetitive effects that would likely occur if the merger were to proceed…

Is Convergence On Individual Punishment for Cartel Violations A Possibility?
Robert Connolly (Cartel Capers)
One of the aspirations of many antitrust/competition lawyers worldwide is to achieve as much convergence as possible among competition authorities in enforcing competition law.

A fair plan for fairer drug prices
Kavita Patel and Scott Gottlieb (Health360)
As the biological basis of more diseases are fully revealed, and the drugs targeting medical problems become more focused and effective, more patients are finding themselves on costlier specialty medicines.

A Price Freeze on Household Waste Collection Prices in Ireland: Consistent with Competition Policy and Law?
Paul K. Gorecki/(Kluwer Competition)
Introduction The Irish Waste Management Association (IWMA), an association of undertakings accounting for 75% the household waste currently managed in Ireland, announced that it is committed “to freezing prices at current rates for twelve month period from 20th June 2016 to 1 July 2017.”

EU Commission advances its Digital Single Market regulatory and antitrust strategy
(Norton Rose Fulbright)
In the first half of 2016, the European Commission has moved aggressively forward with its regulatory Digital Single Market (“DSM”) strategy, a multifaceted regulatory agenda announced in May 2015 to promote online security and commerce…

Craft brew drinkers’ private action at crossroads as DOJ approves beer merger
Chris Yook (Antitrust Law)
Soon your Miller Lite will be brewed by a new company. Last December, we wrote about a complaint filed by craft beer drinkers in an effort to block the merger between brewing titans Anheuser-Busch Inbev (ABI) and SABMiller. The post pointed out the unusual enforcement posture

A reasonable solution, for no problem? Advance rate increase announcements under EU competition law
By Luis Ortíz Blanco (Chilling Competition)
When the Commission recently announced the adoption of a commitments decision in the liner shipping case I asked my colleague Luis to write a post about the legal issues at stake (he was not involved in it, but wrote an expert academic report for a law firm involved).