On October 26, 2022, the German government permitted (with conditions) an investment by Chinese state-owned COSCO Shipping Group (“COSCO”) in one of Hamburg’s four shipping container terminals. Pursuant to foreign direct investment (“FDI”) laws, the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz, “BMWK”) had been notified of the proposed
Latest from Covington Competition - Page 2
UK FDI: Decision-making practice emerging under the National Security and Investment Act
Over the summer, the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) delivered the first decisions, in the form of final orders, under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (“NSIA”). We consider these decisions and other cases in the context of the first nine months of the UK’s new (quasi) Foreign
EU General Court Upholds Tata Steel/thyssenkrupp JV Prohibition
On 22 June 2022, the EU’s General Court (“GC”) fully dismissed thyssenkrupp’s appeal against the European Commission’s (“Commission”) decision to block its proposed joint venture (“JV”) with Tata Steel in 2019.
This is the first time that the GC has considered the prohibition of a “gap” case under the EU Merger Regulation (“EUMR”) since it
The Council of the EU and the European Parliament agree on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation
On 30 June 2022, the Council of the EU (the “Council”) and the European Parliament (the “Parliament”) reached a much awaited agreement on the proposal of the European Commission (the “Commission”) for the Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (the “FSR”) (see our alert on the proposal). This political agreement swiftly concludes the
Belgium and Ireland to introduce new FDI screening powers – European Parliament calls for broader reforms
The European Commission (“Commission”) has repeatedly urged EU Member States to set up foreign direct investment (“FDI”) screening mechanisms. To date, 18 out of 27 Member States have adopted FDI screening powers, providing for the review of M&A transactions and other investments on national security and public policy grounds. Recently, Belgium and Ireland have each
Significant Changes to China’s Anti-Monopoly Law to Take Effect in August
When its Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) went into effect in August 2008, China immediately became a significant antitrust enforcer on the world stage. On June 24, 2022, the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, passed the Amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law of the PRC (the “Amendment”), the first significant changes to the AML in nearly fourteen
European Court of Justice clarifies scope of protection against double jeopardy in successive antitrust investigations
On 22 March 2022, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued two separate preliminary rulings – Bpost and Nordzucker – which clarify how the protection against double jeopardy (“non bis in idem principle”) should be applied in instances where an identical competition law infringement is sanctioned in parallel investigations, either by different regulatory authorities of
The General Court offers useful guidance to interpret the “one time, last time” principle when granting restructuring aid
On 4 May 2022, the General Court of the European Union (the “General Court”) upheld the decision of the European Commission (the “Commission”) approving the rescue aid granted by Romania to the Romanian airline TAROM (T-718/20). With this judgment, the General Court clarifies the concepts used by the Commission when assessing whether aid
The CJEU sets out an analytic framework on exclusionary abuses in the context of market liberalisation
In Enel, a judgment of 12 May 2022 (C-377/20), the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) complemented the framework for analysing exclusionary abuses developed in earlier case-law, notably where it applies to a context of market liberalisation:
- Abuse: The concept of “abuse” relates to conduct that departs from “competition on the
The Council of the EU endorses the European Commission’s proposal on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation
On 4 May 2022, the Council of the EU (the “Council”) formally adopted its position on the proposal of the European Commission (the “Commission”) for a Regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (the “Foreign Subsidies Regulation”) (see our alert on the proposal). On the same day, the European Parliament (the “Parliament”) also adopted