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2023 marked the near finale of the European Commission’s overhaul of its competition policy, leaving only a few loose ends to tie up in 2024/2025. It is now time to watch theory be put into practice by the competition authorities and at the courts.

Since 2021, Dutch rules against unfair trading practices, which implemented an EU Directive, apply to business-to-business relationships in agri-food supply chains. Enforcement by the ACM, initially slow, is now intensifying.

Following the EC’s Horizontal Guidelines, the ACM and CMA have also published updated guidance on sustainability agreements. The approaches adopted by the three authorities are largely similar, but leave room for divergent assessments in some respects.

The Rotterdam District Court has delivered its judgment in the ACM's first-ever vertical restraints case. It upholds the fine imposed on Samsung for coordinating its retailers' online consumer prices under the pretence of 'price recommendations'.

By 26 December 2023 at the latest, EU Member States must publish a list of organisations that they have designated as ‘qualified entities’ (bevoegde instanties) for bringing cross-border representative actions within the EU on behalf of consumers.

On 5 January 2022, the EDPS issued a reprimand to the European Parliament for non-compliance with several provisions of the GDPR for EU Institutions and ordered it to update its data protection notices of an internal corona testing website.

2021 was riddled with sneak previews of a “review of competition policy tools with unprecedented scope and ambition”.

The Litigation Chamber of the Belgian DPA confirms that, in the absence of an existing legal basis, it is not possible for an employer, in this case a hospital, to make the recruitment of a person conditional on the fact that he/she has been vaccinated.

On 17 December 2021, the European Commission published its final version of the implementing decision on the adequate protection of personal data in the Republic of Korea.

On 6 December 2021, the Belgian Data Protection Authority published a recommendation on the processing of biometric data.
 

On 25 March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the Commission evaluation report on the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation two years after its application.

On 6 December 2021, the European Commission published the results of the public consultation on its Data Act. This legislative initiative aims at facilitating data access and use, and reviews the rules on the legal protection of databases.

On 18 November 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted a statement on the Digital Services Package proposed by the Commission. The Package refers to a number of legislative proposals aiming at the further use and sharing of data.

The Commission has imposed interim measures on Illumina and GRAIL. These measures include the obligation to run GRAIL by independent management.

The Commission’s Communication “A competition policy fit for new challenges” (the “Communication”) identifies key areas in which competition law and policy can support European efforts in dealing with the challenges of the green and digital transitions.

Recently, the ECJ ruled that national courts dealing with private enforcement cases are competent to apply EU competition law to historical behaviour in the aviation sector.

The Brussels Court of Appeal has held that a dominant producer firm may have valid reasons to refuse further supplies to a retailer, despite its dominance and despite previous deliveries.

On 10 November 2021, the General Court (GC) almost entirely dismissed Google’s action against the European Commission’s Google Shopping decision.