Within the agricultural and food supply chain, significant imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agri-food products are frequent.
Uiterlijk op 1 december 2020 treedt Artikel IV.2/1 van het Wetboek van Economische Recht in werking. Deze bepaling bevat een verbod op “misbruik van economische afhankelijkheid”. Je hebt het goed gelezen, het gaat hier niet om misbruik van een machtspositie, maar om misbruik van economische afhankelijkheid, een nieuwe vorm van zogenaamd “relatief” misbruik tussen handelspartners.
L’enquête porte sur les modalités, conditions et autres mesures imposées par Apple pour l’intégration d’Apple Pay dans les applications commerciales et les sites web commerciaux sur les iPhones et les iPads, sur la limitation instaurée par Apple de l’accès à la fonctionnalité de communication en champ proche (Near Field Communication, NFC) dite «tap and go» sur les iPhones pour les paiements en magasin, ainsi que sur des refus allégués d’accès à Apple Pay. L’Apple Store fait aussi l’objet d’une seconde enquête séparée.
he Belgian Data Protection Authority (BDPA) has just published two new decisions by its Litigation Chamber, in widely different cases:
On 25 May 2020, the Belgian Competition Authority (“BCA”) issued a press release announcing the update of its leniency guidelines (effective on 22 May 2020) and the calculation of fines (effective on 25 May 2020).
The first Belgian aid schemes notified since the start of the COVID-19 crisis have been approved by the European Commission. On 9 April 2020 the Commission authorised a state guarantee scheme to support firms operating in the Flemish Region
On 26 March 2020, the Belgian Competition Authority issued its annual communication setting out its policy priorities for the current year.
In the context of the Coronavirus crisis, antitrust law must not be ignored. Companies, such as those in the supermarket or pharmaceutical sectors, that normally compete may have to cooperate in these exceptional circumstances
Thomas Cook Belgium and Brussels Airlines may escape fines from the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) notwithstanding the conclusion of an agreement providing for anticompetitive practices according to the Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Authority. In August 2017, the BCA had opened an investigation into potential anticompetitive practices resulting from the conclusion of a "Commercial Service Agreement" between Thomas Cook Belgium and Brussels Airlines.
It is safe to say that on 30 January 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereafter the “CJEU”) handed down a landmark decision in EU IP and competition law.
