At the beginning of February, the European Commission (Commission) presented its Green Deal Industrial Plan, a package of measures designed to help the EU industry to make progress in the transition to climate neutrality and strengthen its position in global competition.

On 6 February, the European Commission (Commission) published a draft Implementing Regulation on detailed arrangements for the conduct of proceedings pursuant to the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) including relevant notification forms. Interested parties have the possibility to provide the Commission with feedback on the draft regulation until 6 March 2023 via an online portal.

When the President of the European Commission (Commission), Ursula von der Leyen, announced the adoption of the European Green Deal – a roadmap to a sustainable economy – in 2019, she called it Europe’s “man on the moon moment”. The achievement of the multidisciplinary objectives gathered under the Green Deal is a priority on the EU agenda and the Commission has taken yet another step on lunar soil yesterday in a steady commitment to firm its grip and gain some traction on this new planet.

After the Digital Markets Act (DMA) entered into force in November 2022, the European Commission is now hosting a series of workshops to consult stakeholders on specific questions regarding the DMA’s implementation. The first workshop dealt with the prohibition on self-preferencing in Article 6(5) DMA and focused on the interpretation of the provision as well as possible solutions to ensure compliance with it in practice.

Pünktlich zur von Schleckereien geprägten Vorweihnachtszeit hat der Bundesgerichtshof (BGH) am 29. November 2022 sein mit Spannung erwartetes Urteil zu der Follow-on-Klage im Nachgang zum „Drogerie-Kartell“ verkündet. (Az. KZR 42/20). Das Urteil ist seit heute auch im Volltext veröffentlicht. Der BGH stellt darin ausdrücklich klar, dass bei einem kartellrechtswidrigen Informationsaustausch eine tatsächliche Vermutung für einen Schaden spricht.

Am 28. November 2022 hat der Rat die Verordnung über den Binnenmarkt verzerrende drittstaatliche Subventionen (die sog. Foreign Subsidies Regulation – FSR) angenommen. Die verabschiedete Fassung entspricht weitgehend der vorläufigen Einigung des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11. Juli 2022. Die FSR wird voraussichtlich noch dieses Jahr, nämlich 20 Tage nach der Veröffentlichung im Amtsblatt der EU, in Kraft treten. Während ein Großteil der materiellen Vorschriften bereits sechs Monate nach Inkrafttreten unmittelbar anwendbar sein wird, werden die neuen Anmeldepflichten für Zusammenschlüsse sowie die Meldepflichten bei der Beteiligung an öffentlichen Ausschreibungen erst neun Monate nach Inkrafttreten gelten, d.h. voraussichtlich zu Beginn des vierten Quartals 2023.

Die FSR verleiht der EU-Kommission neue Befugnisse, um gegen wettbewerbsverzerrende Subventionen von Drittstaaten vorzugehen, die den Wettbewerb bei die Unternehmenskäufe in der EU oder öffentlichen Vergabeverfahren in der EU beeinträchtigen können. Damit wird eine weitere Ebene der behördlichen Kontrolle eingeführt, die sämtliche in der EU tätige Unternehmen von nun an beachten müssen.

BLOMSTEIN hat die Entstehung der FSR vom Weißbuch der Kommission bis zum finalen Verordnungstext verfolgt (siehe BLOMSTEIN Briefing aus September 2020, Briefing aus Mai 2021 und Briefing aus Juli 2022). Dieses Briefing fasst die wichtigsten Bestimmungen der FSR zusammen.

On 23 November 2022, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) declared that – for the time being – it does not object to the distribution of Meta VR headsets in Germany. The reason is that Meta has voluntarily refrained from linking its VR headsets to Facebook accounts. This case showcases the first application of Sec. 19a of the Act against Restraints of Competition (ARC) with the effect that a Big Tech company changed its business conduct. In the meantime, further cases are pending before the FCO with the outcome eagerly awaited.

As of January 1, 2023, companies that fall under the scope of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) will be subject to a reporting obligation. To facilitate the timely and complete implementation of this obligation, BAFA has now published a catalogue of questions that provides a detailed insight into the structure and content of the reporting expected by the authorities. In the following, we briefly outline the most important components and added values of this questionnaire.

On the night after Halloween, the long-awaited Digital Market Act (DMA) has entered into force. Should companies be frightened or euphoric about the new EU rules for digital gatekeepers? Although field testing is still some months away – the DMA will only start applying after a further six months, on 2 May 2023 – affected companies are well advised to already familiarize themselves with the mechanics of the DMA. Our briefing outlines how the DMA will work.

In the 2022 State of the Union the President of the European Commission, President von der Leyen, stressed the economic importance and high supply risk of critical raw materials (CRMs), such as lithium, magnesium, rare earths, and others. In this context, she announced the implementation of the CRM Act, of which the feedback and public consultation period is currently ongoing until 25 November 2022. The topic of CRMs and the EU’s dependency on non-member states for supply is not novel but gained traction in light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the EU’s reliance on Russian gas and oil. At the same time, China is by far the biggest supplier of CRMs to the EU, and China had used its supply of CRMs as a geopolitical response. In possible future conflicts with China, it can be assumed that China will again use CRM supply geopolitically. The CRM Act is the latest example of the EU’s intention to push towards a digital and sustainable future, the “Twin Transition”, as well as strengthen EU resilience and security. It exemplifies the EU institutions’ unanimous effort to reduce strategic dependencies to ensure the “Twin Transition” of the EU economy.