German Parliament Has Adopted the Government’s Draft on the 11th Amendment to the German Act Against Restraints of Competition
The German Parliament (Bundestag) has adopted the 11th GWB amendment on July 6, 2023. After being approved by the Bundesrat, Germany’s second legislative body, the legislative procedure will be completed, approximately by the end of September. The amendment proposal leads to a harsher German competition law with new powers for the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) as German Minister of Economics, Robert Habeck already stated his intentions of a competition law with ‘claws and teeth’.
The amendments introduced can be summarized under three key points:
DMA Enforcement, § 32g GWB-RegE
On October 12, 2022, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) was published in the Official Journal of the EU and the rules of the act apply since May 2, 2023. The main competence for the enforcement of the DMA lies with the Commission but member states’ authorities are also to be allowed to investigate possible infringements regarding the regulations of the DMA. Also, the DMA can become the subject of private enforcement in member state civil courts. As such, the relevant regulation allows the local application of DMA in Germany.
Revocation of benefits
The new regulation of § 34 IV GWB-RegE allows the competition authority to take back the benefits/advantages acquired from competition law violations more effectively. The legal presumption applies if a company has obtained an advantage amounting to 1% of the domestic sales related to the violation. The revocation is capped at 10% of the previous year's total sales in relation to the authority's decision in order to prevent cases of hardship. Only under very restrictive criteria it is possible to rebut the legal presumption.
New intervention instruments (§ 32e and § 32f RegE)
§ 32f RegE now allows the authority to adopt and implement behavioral or structural measures following a sector enquiry if a "significant and continuing disruption of competition" has previously been identified in a sector.
In particular, behavioral or quasi-structural obligations should be possible. The regulation includes, for example, the access to data, interfaces, networks and other facilities. It is also possible, for example, to impose requirements on business relationships between companies in the relevant markets or on certain contractual arrangements as well as obligations on the organizational separation of company divisions.
Accordingly, it is safe to express that Bundeskartellamt is now equipped with several new tools.
All rights of this article are reserved. This article may not be used, reproduced, copied, published, distributed, or otherwise disseminated without quotation or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm's written consent. Any content created without citing the resource or Erdem & Erdem Law Firm’s written consent is regularly tracked, and legal action will be taken in case of violation.
Other Contents
The Bundeskartellamt decided on June 26, 2023 that (Decision) several practices and contractual clauses used by the German national railway company Deutsche Bahn (DB) in relation to rival mobility platforms constitute an abuse of market power in the mobility services market...
Turkish Competition Board (Board) announced its final decision (Decision) as a result of the investigation conducted against certain undertakings through gentlemen’s agreement pursuant to the Board decisions dated 01.04.2021 and numbered 21-18/213-M, dated 05.08.2021 and numbered 21-37/527-M, dated...
In its judgment of July 4, 2023 (Decision), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that the national competition authorities may rely on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in their investigation in respect of abuse of dominant position...
The investigation initiated against DSM Grup Danışmanlık İletişim ve Satış Ticaret A.Ş. (Trendyol) with the Competition Board (Board) decision dated 23.09.2021 and numbered 21-44/650-M is concluded. In this context, the Board decided in its short decision (Decision) that...
The Constitutional Court (CC), in its decision dated 23.03.2023 and numbered 2019/40991 (CC Decision), stated that workplaces such as the headquarters, branches and facilities are considered as domicile within the scope of Article 21 of the Constitution and ruled that the competence granted to competition...
The Competition Authority presented its important studies on various sectors to the public. The reports, which address the competition law implications of the transformation in digital markets, and include findings and assessments on the fast-moving consumer goods retailing and online advertising sectors...
Through the Law No. 7440 on Restructuring of Certain Receivables and Amending Certain Laws (Law No. 7440) published in the Official Gazette dated 12.03.2023 and No. 32130, procedures and principles regarding restructuring of the certain public receivables are regulated...
The General Court of the European Union ("General Court") annulled the decision of the European Commission ("Commission"), which found that Qualcomm, the world's largest LTE baseband chipset (“chipset”) supplier, had abused its dominant position in the said market and imposed a fine of €997 million...
Turkish Competition Board (“The Board”), with its decision numbered 22-24/385-M has decided to initiate an investigation against DSM Grup Danışmanlık İletişim ve Satış Ticaret A.Ş. (“Trendyol”)...
European Commission adopted the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) accompanied by the New Vertical Guidelines on May 10, 2022. The new rules are simpler and clearer, which enables companies to assess the compatibility of...
Pursuant to the Communiqué Amending Communiqué Concerning the Mergers and Acquisitions Calling for the Authorization of the Competition Board (“Amending Communiqué”) published in the Official Gazette...
Competition Authority Published the Guideline on Examining Digital Data During On-Site Inspections
Competition Board Decision regarding implementation of administrative fines for some banks due to not providing the information requested by the Competition Authority
Competition Board conditionally approved the Merger Transaction of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. and Peugeot S.A.
Competition Board initiated an Investigation against Facebook and Whatsapp
The Competition Board Rejected the Request for Exemption to the Agreement Between Johnson & Johnson and Pharmaceutical Warehouses
Competition Board's Interim Measure Decision on WhatsApp has been published
Competition Board's Investigation against Google concluded
Competition Board initiated an Investigation against 32 Undertakings concerning the Labor Market
The Decision of the Ankara 3rd Administrative Court Clarifying That Competition Board May Request Information and Documents from Undertakings Whose Headquarters Located Abroad by Notifying Their Subsidiaries in Turkey
The Regulation on Settlement is published
Significant Amendments are Introduced to the Block Exemption Communiqué on Vertical Agreements