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Recent developments gave rise to write this update: the European Parliament has ratified the Climate Law and confirmed the goal of the European Union on climate neutrality by 2050. 

On 26 January 2023, the ACM announced that its priorities for 2023 would be the energy transition, the digital economy, and sustainability. This agenda is unsurprising in view of the ACM’s recent policy statements and enforcement actions.

The District Court of Oost-Brabant recognized the res judicata effect of a Turkish court of appeal judgment, in which the Turkish court had dismissed antitrust damages claims brought by Vestel against Philips, Samsung, LGE, Technicolor, TTD and TDP.

The ACM has fined Epic Games for exploiting children’s psychological vulnerabilities, marking a key moment for Dutch consumer law enforcement. Our briefing examines the broader implications for consumer-facing businesses, especially those in online sales.

The European Commission will review a transaction thanks to Italy’s call-in powers. Even though the broad interpretation of Article 22 EUMR is off the table, deals that do not meet standard EU and national merger thresholds may still need to be notified.

The ECJ upheld the Commission’s fine on Scania for participating in a cartel. The Commission’s impartiality is not necessarily impaired by having the Commission case team in charge of the settlement procedure also deal with the penalty decision.

Are ‘European champion’ companies walled off from unfair (foreign) competition the future? The European Commission recently presented its Competitiveness Compass to navigate the European Union to strengthened competitiveness.

The General Court has annulled the EUR 1.49 billion fine imposed on Google. The Commission had failed to properly assess the allegedly abusive contractual clauses related to online advertising, including whether they actually had a lock-in effect.

On 13 February 2025, the District Court of Rotterdam upheld the ACM’s approach in its ruling on the appeal against the regulator’s first-ever excessive pricing fine.

Now that the European Commission adopted the revised Horizontal Guidelines (HGs), including the new chapter on sustainability agreements, companies wishing to set up sustainability initiatives finally have more certainty on the applicable guidance.

The Ecodesign Regulation entered into force on 18 July 2024. It forms the basis of the EU’s approach to sustainable and circular product design.

Op 18 juli 2024 is de Ecodesign Verordening in werking getreden. De wet vormt de basis van de Europese aanpak voor duurzaam en circulair productontwerp.

Unilever shows the need to assess evidence on lack of anti-competitive effects in abuse cases and how liability can extend across different levels of the supply chain. Dominant undertakings had better think twice when imposing policy on distributors.

The ACM’s push for companies to come forward for an antitrust blessing of their sustainability solutions is paying off. The ACM has again given informal guidance to companies wishing to make sustainability agreements.

In the first hybrid cartel proceedings by the Belgian Competition Authority, the Prosecutor recently submitted a draft decision to condemn and impose a fine on pharmaceutical wholesaler CERP SA for allegedly participating in anticompetitive practices.