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The Foreign Subsidies Regulation has celebrated one year of its application. Time for companies to take stock of the lessons learnt from key developments of this first year. However, ambiguities remain and more is yet to come. Watch this space!

After 16 years of court battle, the Brussels Court of Appeal has rejected the EU’s EUR 12 million (+ interest) damage claim against the four lift producers that participated in the lift cartel fined in 2007.

On 14 July 2023, the Belgian Competition Authority confirmed its jurisdiction to review M&A transactions between hospitals, regardless of whether these hospitals belong to the same hospital network.

Employers beware: the European Commission is strengthening its actions against anticompetitive practices in labour markets. In its recent Competition Policy Brief it takes a tough stance. Companies are well-advised to review their employment practices.

In 2022, the ACM and the European Commission put the spotlight on the accuracy of companies’ sustainability claims. Notably, the ACM published several market studies and adopted commitment decisions concerning allegedly misleading sustainability claims.

The clock is ticking for companies to set the record straight on resale price maintenance (RPM). Retailers must be able to determine their own retail prices without any direct or indirect meddling by suppliers.

On 18 July 2023, the Luxembourg law of 14 July 2023 establishing a mechanism for the national screening of foreign direct investments likely to undermine security or public order has been published in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

In a judgment of 23 January 2024 (case no. 200.304.621 and 200.304.673), the Court of Appeal ruled that elevator manufacturer Kone can be held liable for damages alleged by 23 parties that combined their claims in a litigation vehicle.

Companies should review their recruitment and hiring policies and practices. The Commission has joined the hunt for ‘job cartels’ with its first ever cartel in the labour market.

The European Commission has fined Mondelēz EUR 337.5 million for restricting cross-border trade. Brand owners are advised to double-check their licensing and distribution systems, as well as their commercial conduct, for possible territorial restraints.

Unfair trading conditions and tying are gaining traction as alleged abusive practices in the digital industry, as the European Commission fines Meta EUR 797.72 million for hindering competitors of Facebook Marketplace.

While 2022 revolved around new and improved regulatory tools, the focus in 2023 will be on putting these tools to use. More merger-related obligations, digital sector scrutiny and clarity on competition-law and consumer-law aspects is imminent.

The Belgian Competition Authority imposed a fine of €490,112 on Le Creuset for vertical price fixing (also known as resale price maintenance).

The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) informally accepted a commitment agreed by the partners of the Belgian Agro Food Chain Platform, limiting the possibility to contractually exclude the theory of change of circumstances.

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 23 October 2023, the Belgian Competition Authority (the BCA) concluded its first hybrid cartel proceedings by imposing a fine of EUR 778.777 on CERP SA (CERP) for participating in anticompetitive practices in the pharmaceutical distribution sector.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the most significant development in the European data strategy in the past years and is continuously evolving.

De Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming (de “AVG”) is één van de meest ingrijpende ontwikkelingen binnen de Europese datastrategie van de afgelopen jaren en nog steeds volop in ontwikkeling.