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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.

The ink on the Digital Market Act has barely dried, but fast-evolving digital developments already have competition authorities calling for new tools. Is Big Tech not kept in check by the DMA, the antitrust rules and the EU Merger Regulation after all?

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.

Heleen Kersten and Omar El Gachi contributed to the Legal 500 Country Comparative Guide: Mergers & Acquisitions The Netherlands.

Dutch investment screening is rapidly expanding: since June, the proposal for a separate defence regime has been published and the intended expansion of the regime of the Vifo Act to include AI and biotech has been announced. Reason for a quick update!

While skimming through employees’ chat conversations and e-mails, it is not uncommon for competition authorities to stumble across other potential antitrust violations, separate from the initial scope of the search.

Suppliers and distributors should double-check their agreements. The European Court of Justice has provided guidance for the assessment of exclusive distribution agreements.

The European Court of Justice has confirmed that the essential facilities test is limited to ‘pure’ access cases. Infringement of a regulatory access obligation must be assessed under the general framework for abuse of dominance.

The Belgian screening mechanism for FDIs will enter into force on 1 July 2023. The mechanism is designed to safeguard Belgium's critical infrastructure and to protect sectors crucial to Belgium's public order, national security and strategic interests.