French Competition Law Newsletter

Below are links to French Competition Law Newsletters that Cleary publishes regularly.

2022

April

Highlights

The French Competition Authority applies the “failing firm” defense for the first time

On April 28, 2022, the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) unconditionally cleared the acquisition of home furnishing retailer Conforama by Mobilux, the parent company of competitor But Group. The FCA applied the failing firm defense for the first time.

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The French Competition Authority fines COFEPP for failure to notify and gun-jumping

On April 12, 2022, the French Competition Authority fined Compagnie Financière Européenne de Prises de Participation 7 million euros for two distinct but related infringements, namely failing to notify a merger transaction (failure to notify) and implementing said transaction before merger control approval had been obtained (so-called “gun-jumping”). This is the first time that the FCA fines both infringements in the same decision, following in the footsteps of the Commission in the Altice Portugal and Marine Harvest decisions.

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The Conseil constitutionnel holds that multiple sanctions imposed on the same person for several infringements regarding restrictive competition practices complies with the French Constitution

On March 25, 2022, the French Conseil constitutionnel held that the provisions of Article L.470-2, paragraph VII of the French Commercial Code, which provide for the cumulative enforcement of penalties imposed on the same person for multiple breaches regarding restrictive trade practices, are in compliance with the French Constitution.

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2021