Franklin is pleased to share the third edition of its newsletter dedicated to key developments in competition, distribution and consumer law, as well as foreign direct investment (FDI) control and foreign subsidies control, including:
- Truck cartel: the Paris Court of Appeal, for the first time, ruled on the merits against a truck manufacturer in follow-on litigation arising from the 2016 European truck cartel, paving the way for compensation claims by victims.
- European regulatory developments: adoption of the new block exemption regulation applicable to technology transfer agreements (Regulation (EU) 2026/877) and publication by the European Commission of a draft revised set of merger guidelines, following the Draghi Report on European competitiveness.
- French legislative developments: final adoption of the increase in merger control thresholds as part of the Economic Simplification Bill.
- Dawn raids: the General Court clarified the notion of reimbursable “additional costs” where an inspection is continued on the Commission’s premises (Red Bull), while the Commission opened a new investigation in the chocolate confectionery sector and issued a supplementary Statement of Objections to Meta concerning the exclusion of third-party AI assistants on WhatsApp.
- Foreign subsidies control: in the Mota-Engil / Portugal CRRC case, the Commission adopted its first final decision subject to conditions following an in-depth public procurement investigation under the FSR.
- French Competition Authority: four notable infringement decisions, including the first sanction imposed following a whistleblower report (Nexans / Sonepar) and a record €12.7 million fine for a market-sharing cartel allocating distribution channels in the organic products sector (Synadis Bio).
- Enforcement: the DGCCRF ordered four major retail chains (Lidl, Aldi, Carrefour and GALEC) to cease misleading commercial practices relating to the origin of fruit and vegetables, and imposed a further sanction for failure to comply with the March 1ˢᵗ statutory deadline for annual negotiations, following the EURELEC case.
