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Companies have a new and improved tool for the competitive assessment of their conduct and intended acquisitions. The European Commission has updated its guidance on how to define relevant markets for the purpose of EU competition law enforcement.

The ACM will, possibly as a prelude to an upcoming New Competition Tool, launch market investigations into five sectors. Companies are well-advised to prepare for upcoming market investigations and potential solutions for identified market failures.

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.

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 EU's proposed Green Claims Directive has emerged as a potential new framework aiming to tackle greenwashing and help consumers make greener choices when purchasing a product or using a service. 

The Stibbe ESG & Sustainability Conference took place on 25 June. The take aways on the two main topics Greenwashing vs. Greenbleaching and Climate Litigation can be found in a freely accessible one-pager.

On 23 January 2024, the ACM announced its priorities for 2024. The energy transition, the digital economy and sustainability are still on the ACM’s priority list, but now with better-equipped enforcement methods available.

On 31 January 2025, Belgium's Government Agreement for 2025-2029 was published, focusing on strengthening competition, safeguarding tech expertise, and increasing subsidy transparency. However, more steps are needed to define practical implementation.

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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.

Where is the line between openness and protectionism in the European single market? At both EU and national level, more and more protective barriers against foreign investors and acquirers have been created in the international competition.

The European Commission has designated six Tech Giants (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft) as gatekeepers for 22 core platform services under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

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?

The countdown is on for digital giants. The entry into force of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on 1 November 2022 triggered a to do list for potential gatekeepers with 2 May 2023 as the next key date to keep in mind: see our DMA infographic.

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.

2022 marks the second year of the EU Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Regulation, and the year in which legislators haven been busy shaping the Dutch national security screening regime and the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

The Dutch Investments, Mergers and Acquisitions Security Screening Act (Wet veiligheidstoets investeringen, fusies en overnames – Vifo Act) entered into force on 1 June 2023.