Webinar: Navigating Developments in Competition Law

Live Webinar: 04 November 2021 at 11 AM EET / 10 AM CET

The past year has brought significant developments in competition law, both on a national and on an EU level. Companies are now facing even more new challenges raised by digital transformation, as well as political and economic changes, while business leaders need to navigate a bewilderingly high level of complexity. Staying on top of the changes and remaining compliant can become a full-time job all on its own.

This webinar is designed to help participants grasp the key developments in competition law over the past twelve months and to offer practical insights on their application. We will also take a look ahead – at some of the key expected changes in the months to come.

Agenda

EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation

In this webinar, we will examine what changes are expected to come when the revised draft EU Vertical Block Exemption Regulation enters into force. We will review how businesses can prepare themselves for this while ensuring compliance. We will also cover the competition law implications triggered by market developments that have occurred since the adoption of the current regulation, especially regarding the growth of e-commerce and on-line platforms. We will also discuss online sales restrictions, dual distribution, active sales restrictions, and parity obligations. We will give practical tips so that companies can be confident that they are ready for these upcoming regulatory changes.

Developments in merger control

What are the key takeaways of the EU Court’s recent gunjumping decision in M&A transactions? What pre-closing covenants cannot be used in transaction agreements? What kind of contacts may the buyer have with the target company prior to clearance? What kind of information may be exchanged between the merging parties? In this webinar, we touch upon these significant legal questions and share with you the key conclusions for the M&A and merger control practice. The webinar enables you clearly identify those points that bear particular risk from a competition law perspective during transactions.

Abuse of dominance update

Abuse of dominance is a dynamic space where we are seeing increased enforcement across major jurisdictions. We will provide an overview over relevant developments in the legal framework. We will cover what the current trends in market definition are and will examine when a company is considered to hold a dominant market position. And, lastly, we will look at the current enforcement trends in the EU, individual member states, and other countries. Having done this, we will close by covering recent developments – also in the tech and pharmaceutical sectors – and discuss what lessons can be learnt from this for other industries.

Competition law compliance programs

Why are competition law compliance programs important and, specifically, why are they important now? What do companies need to bear in mind and which elements should they include that the competition authorities want to see? What is the authorities’ current approach towards competition law compliance programs and what are the benefits attached to these (such as mitigating factors, as a tool for leniency or settlement, or the possibility to avoid bans to participate in public procurement). We will cover these, and other key topics, in this webinar through a multijurisdictional approach together with a number of practical tips which will help in the design and implementation of a robust competition law compliance program.

Speakers

• Florentina Munteanu
  
• Marc Lager
  
• Anna Miks
  
• Rafael Piqueras