33 results New deal for online deals - EU consumer protection adapted to the digital era As part of the New Deal for Consumers, aimed to strengthen EU consumer protection in light of the digital era, a new Directive 2019/2161 of 27 November 2019 has been adopted. Wanted: fast solutions for fast-growing platforms Dominant digital companies be warned: calls for additional tools to deal with powerful platforms in online markets are increasing. Big tech firms entering banking: be careful what you wish for Big tech firms, whether entering or already active on payments markets, are under scrutiny. PSD2 has opened up the payments markets to non-bank companies, but this comes with both risks and opportunities. Get ready for more action! Dutch investment screening continues to evolve 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! Widening the net: The Dutch government proposes to broaden the scope of the Vifo Act The Vifo Act continues to evolve: Dutch government to extend the scope of the general Dutch FDI screening regime to cover six additional technologies. The era of FDI screenings kicks off in Belgium 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. EU merger guidelines review: catching up with the times? A potential major overhaul of EU merger control review began on 8 May 2025. Time for stakeholders to speak up about whether and particularly how the European Commission should incorporate wider strategic or societal objectives into its merger assessments. The gift that keeps on giving: Article 22 is here to stay The European Commission will review a transaction thanks to Italy’s call-in powers. Even though the broad interpretation of Article 22 EUMR is off the table, deals that do not meet standard EU and national merger thresholds may still need to be notified. EU Compass: Boosting competitiveness as North Star Are ‘European champion’ companies walled off from unfair (foreign) competition the future? The European Commission recently presented its Competitiveness Compass to navigate the European Union to strengthened competitiveness. Developments in DMA land: EU tags Big Tech as first Gatekeepers 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). Employers beware: the Commission joins the ‘labour party’ 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. Meta fined for Facebook Marketplace’s Unfair Trading Conditions and Tying 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. Navigating access refusals after the ECJ’s Google Android Auto-ruling Big Tech faces challenges when denying third parties access to its open platforms. The European Court of Justice has ruled that a dominant company’s refusal to make its open platform compatible with a third-party app may be abusive. Google Android-ruling: Commission flunks AEC test once again The AEC test has likely assumed mythic status at the European Commission with the EU courts striking down its AEC analysis for a third time. Nevertheless, the Commission seems on the right track to tackling abuse of dominance in the digital sector. Digital antitrust conduct: too elusive to catch? 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? Pagination Previous page Page 1 Current page 2
New deal for online deals - EU consumer protection adapted to the digital era As part of the New Deal for Consumers, aimed to strengthen EU consumer protection in light of the digital era, a new Directive 2019/2161 of 27 November 2019 has been adopted.
Wanted: fast solutions for fast-growing platforms Dominant digital companies be warned: calls for additional tools to deal with powerful platforms in online markets are increasing.
Big tech firms entering banking: be careful what you wish for Big tech firms, whether entering or already active on payments markets, are under scrutiny. PSD2 has opened up the payments markets to non-bank companies, but this comes with both risks and opportunities.
Get ready for more action! Dutch investment screening continues to evolve 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!
Widening the net: The Dutch government proposes to broaden the scope of the Vifo Act The Vifo Act continues to evolve: Dutch government to extend the scope of the general Dutch FDI screening regime to cover six additional technologies.
The era of FDI screenings kicks off in Belgium 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.
EU merger guidelines review: catching up with the times? A potential major overhaul of EU merger control review began on 8 May 2025. Time for stakeholders to speak up about whether and particularly how the European Commission should incorporate wider strategic or societal objectives into its merger assessments.
The gift that keeps on giving: Article 22 is here to stay The European Commission will review a transaction thanks to Italy’s call-in powers. Even though the broad interpretation of Article 22 EUMR is off the table, deals that do not meet standard EU and national merger thresholds may still need to be notified.
EU Compass: Boosting competitiveness as North Star Are ‘European champion’ companies walled off from unfair (foreign) competition the future? The European Commission recently presented its Competitiveness Compass to navigate the European Union to strengthened competitiveness.
Developments in DMA land: EU tags Big Tech as first Gatekeepers 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).
Employers beware: the Commission joins the ‘labour party’ 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.
Meta fined for Facebook Marketplace’s Unfair Trading Conditions and Tying 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.
Navigating access refusals after the ECJ’s Google Android Auto-ruling Big Tech faces challenges when denying third parties access to its open platforms. The European Court of Justice has ruled that a dominant company’s refusal to make its open platform compatible with a third-party app may be abusive.
Google Android-ruling: Commission flunks AEC test once again The AEC test has likely assumed mythic status at the European Commission with the EU courts striking down its AEC analysis for a third time. Nevertheless, the Commission seems on the right track to tackling abuse of dominance in the digital sector.
Digital antitrust conduct: too elusive to catch? 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?