Competition

07
Feb

The European Commission has adopted revised horizontal guidelines which amongst other changes for the first time provide specific guidance on information exchange between competitors. Two block exemption regulations on research and development as well as on specialisation have also been revised to cover more agreements than before.   On 14 December 2010 the European Commission adopted two revised block exemption regulations, on R&D cooperation and on specialisation, as well revised horizontal guidelines covering a wider scale of cooperation agreements between competitors.   The new block exemptions enter into force in the beginning of the year 2011 with a transitional period of two years. The horizontal guidelines are effective as soon as they have been officially published. The new guidance aims to ensure a uniform application of EU competition rules in all EU Member States.   A block exemption regulation provides a safe harbour for certain types of agreements between companies with a limited combined market share (below 25 % in case of R&D agreements and below 20 % in case of specialisation and joint production agreements). These agreements are by their nature considered to have more positive than negative effects on competition and are therefore block exempted from the general prohibition to restrict competition. If the ...

02
Feb

An extract from The European Antitrust Review 2012 - a Global Competition Review special report.   Introduction   The broad range of articles in this publication illustrates how pervasive antitrust issues have become. They have spread to affect companies in almost every industry, irrespective of where they do business.   Notwithstanding the variety of different ways that competition law can impact upon a firm, its management and its employees, one common concern cuts across all sectors and jurisdictions – namely, the importance of compliance. This article will consider all aspects of this issue, focusing in particular on the need to instil a culture of compliance within organisations and how this can be achieved most effectively. The article emphasises two key issues: firstly, that the creation of a pervasive 'culture' is the best possible way to limit the risks associated with non-compliance; and secondly, that a 'culture' means more than just a policy or a programme. Rather, we wish to convey the idea of a comprehensive way of thinking, led from the top of a business and permeating throughout.   We begin by considering the risks and potential consequences of non-compliance, before asking how useful a compliance culture really is in tackling those risks. We then identify five hallmarks ...

10
Jan

“The EU decision announced today, which qualifies Hungarian state aid given to the airline between 2007-2010 as contrary to EU regulations, does not mean that Malév faces an immediate payment liability. The EU ruling does not affect the daily functioning of Malév, its flights continue to operate according to schedule, the company continues to pay its suppliers in compliance with contractual conditions and it provides normal services to its partners. The resources necessary for this have been supplied by the company’s owner. Malév continues to carry its customers on scheduled flights as normal. The Hungarian government has informed Malév management and the general public that it remains committed to maintaining the national carrier. Accordingly, Malév management and all staff members are carrying out their work as usual, and they are working on sustaining into 2012 the improvements in results recorded in the past few months. Malév has forecast significantly improved operational results in 2012, justification for which is based on the financial results posted in the last quarter of 2011. The airline is showing outstanding performance indicators even when compared with its competitors: it achieved a load factor of 78% in the final month of last year, and in Q4 2011 it ...

13
Dec

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union has failed to halt government aid for Airbus SAS to build aircraft including the A380 after the World Trade Organization ruled the subsidies are illegal, the U.S. Trade Representative said. The U.S. trade office today asked the EU to enter talks to resolve the dispute and sought authority to impose about $7 billion to $10 billion in countermeasures. While the trade arbiter can’t force nations or companies to scrap illegal aid, it can authorize sanctions for failure to comply with rulings. WTO judges in Geneva ruled in June 2010 that EU nations including Spain, the U.K., France and Germany provided illegal subsidies to Airbus in the form of launch-aid loans, infrastructure support and equity infusions that had an adverse effect on Boeing Co. The EU said on Dec. 1 that it had complied with the ruling. “The WTO clearly found that every single grant of launch aid to Airbus, for every single aircraft that company produced, was a WTO-inconsistent subsidy that caused unfair adverse effects to U.S. industry and jobs,” U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said today in a statement. The U.S. “cannot accept anything less than an end to this subsidized financing,” he said. Boeing, which ...

16
Aug

The European commission has launched an inquiry into airlines' controversial "add-on" charges that allow them to offer low prices bearing little resemblance to what ticket buyers end up having to pay. Siim Kallas, a European commission vice-president, who is also the organisation's transport commissioner, said he was concerned about the growing practice of airlines offering attractive, affordable, "headline prices" for flights that are then subject to baggage charges, credit and debit card fees, and airport check-in fees. The practice, already criticised by UK consumer groups, has been under the spotlight for being used, as a matter of course, by budget airlines such as Ryanair. But it is also a feature of scheduled carriers as well as train firms and rail websites. Amid growing concern that airlines exploit passengers by expanding the list of additional charges – which, at one stage, were routinely included in the basic fare – Kallas revealed that the commission shared his concerns about the confusing practices and admitted that spiralling consumer complaints were difficult to address within current laws. He has launched a study into whether EU rules need to be amended, which will report this autumn with legislative action expected next year. The inquiry follows pressure from the Labour ...