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On 9 July 2021, the Commission published its draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and the accompanying Vertical Guidelines.

The Grand Chamber of the CJEU confirms that EU law precludes national legislative measures which provide for the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data relating to e-communications, for the purpose of combating serious crime.

Now that political agreement has been reached on the final text, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) will enter into force soon. The DMA’s ex ante rules and obligations will apply next to the ad hoc EU and national competition rules.

Companies involved in multi-step acquisitions should beware of potential gun-jumping risks. The ACM has fined a trade association for failing to notify the acquisition of four pharmacies involving a consecutive partial resale.

On 22 March 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) offered companies investigated for the same conduct by several authorities clarity on the core principles of the application of the non bis in idem (double jeopardy) protection.

On 7 March 2022, the Act implementing the ECN+ Directive into Belgian law was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The Act entered into force on 17 March 2022.

The CJEU stated that the private copy exception (copyright) applies to cloud computing.

On 17 February 2022, the Belgian legislator adopted a law amending various provisions on electronic communications in order to introduce additional security measures for the provision of 5G mobile services.

The Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications published guidelines to clarify the use of the term 'unlimited internet' by operators.

The European Commission published a European Chips Act to confront semiconductors shortages and strengthen the technological leadership of the European Union.

The Belgian Gazette published a Royal decree completing the Belgian regulatory framework on crypto-exchange and wallet services providers. The decree enters into force on 1 May 2022.

De Europese Commissie heeft op 23 februari 2022 de Europese dataverordening (“Data Act”) voorgesteld, die het delen van data beoogt te bevorderen. Steeds meer gegevens worden door mensen en machines gegenereerd, bewaard en hergebruikt.

More antitrust clarity has arrived for companies involved in sustainability collaborations. The EC published draft revised rules on horizontal cooperation agreements and the ACM informally approved two green initiatives in the energy sector.

Only months after suspending an investigation into a possible wage-fixing cartel, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has warned employers, employers’ organisations, and trade associations to not engage in no-poach agreements. 

Pharma companies beware: discount schemes by former patent owners raise red flags at competition authorities.

Nothing is more fickle than information exchange: it changes colour under EU competition rules depending on the nature of the relationship between the exchanging companies.

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its draft Data Act, i.e. a proposal for a regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data. The text is part of the European strategy for data launched by the Commission in 2020.