Recent Articles

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  30.01.2023

  Romania

  RCC con­tin­ues scru­tiny of the auto­mot­ive mar­ket in Ro­mania

  The Romanian Competition Council (RCC) imposed a hefty fine of EUR 2.65 million on the Romanian subsidiary of an international automotive company for anti-competitive agreements in the market for the distribution of new, medium and heavy trucks of a particular brand.Following the RCC’s investigation, the competition authority concluded that the company and its distributors in its selective distribution network had agreed on the territory in which they could resell new, medium and heavy trucks. In so doing, the companies involved are alleged to have agreed not to sell these trucks outside...

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  30.01.2023

  Germany

  Apple: Re­cord fine by the Autor­ité de la Con­cur­rence re­duced by two thirds

  The French competition authority ("Autorité de la Concurrence", or "Autorité") had imposed a record fine of approximately EUR 1.1 billion on Apple on 16 March 2020 (see Law-Now article). Apple announced its appeal in advance. It has now been mostly successful. In its judgment of 6 October 2022 (Arrêt de la Cour d'Appel de Paris du 6 octobre 2022, case ref. 20/08582), the Cour d'Appel de Paris partially modified the decision of the Autorité and rejected the allegation of prohibited price fixing.The fineAs a reminder, the Autorité had sanctioned with the fine the...

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  27.01.2023

  Ukraine

  Ukraine tem­por­ar­ily can­cels elec­tron­ic auc­tions in Pro­Zorro e-pro­cure­ment sys­tem

  The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine temporarily cancelled electronic auctions in the ProZorro system through Resolution No. 1495 of 30 December 2022 because of the constant shelling of nation's energy infrastructure and resulting blackouts, which was interfering with the electronic auction process. Electronic auctions for open tenders are not expected to take place for the next six months beginning 3 January 2023. During this period, the system is automatically able to determine the most efficient tender offer based on the criteria and methods established by the contracting authority. It is temporarily...

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  27.01.2023

  United Kingdom

  HM­RC re­verse po­s­i­tion on col­lect­ing cus­tom­er IP data from fin­an­cial in­sti­tu­tions

  On 26 January 2023, the first report on HMRC’s use of financial institution notices (“FINs”) was laid before Parliament. The report includes a number of important updates, including an unexpected retreat on HMRC’s proposal, previously undisclosed, to use FINs to collect data held by financial institutions on where customers have accessed their online or mobile accounts (i.e., their geographical location by reference to an IP address, “Location Data”). The CMS Tax Disputes & Investigations team has been advising representatives of the UK banking and financial...

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  27.01.2023

  Poland

  Po­lan­d's UOKiK veri­fy­ing im­ple­ment­a­tion of the Om­ni­bus Dir­ect­ive

  PL

  Poland's Competition and Consumer Protection office (UOKiK) is now monitoring compliance with the EU's Omnibus Directive. The relevant implementation legislation went into effect in Poland on 1 January 2023. The UOKiK's compliance monitoring activities began less than two weeks after the implementation of the Directive, which introduces a number of new obligations for businesses that sell products or services to consumers, such as obligations to provide transparent information about price reductions, publish fair consumer reviews, and present offers fairly in search results. The UOKiK reports that...

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  27.01.2023

  Poland

  Po­lan­d's UOKiK is­sues PLN 22m fine for chan­ging reg­u­la­tions and in­creas­ing prices of ser­vices provided

  PL

  Poland's UOKiK has imposed a fine of over PLN 22 million on the TV and internet service provider Vectra for unilaterally introducing clauses into agreements with customers, which make it possible to change these agreements and increase subscription fees. Vectra introduced a modification clause into existing agreements, concluded for an indefinite period, which described the circumstances under which the general terms and conditions of the agreement can be changed. Following this, on the basis of this clause, Vectra increased monthly subscriptions by PLN 5, citing a significant increase in the cost...

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