Despite the firm rap on the knuckles administered by the ECJ last year in the Intel case, the Commission is undaunted in the field of abuse of a dominant position. In late January for instance, Euro Commissioner Vestager announced a record fine of almost EUR 1 billion to be imposed on Quallcom in respect of the exclusivity fees it paid Apple. It is therefore unlikely that the Intel judgment will be reason for the European Commission to exercise more restraint. ACM last year also imposed a major fine on NS (the Dutch Railways). That case is one of the greatest achievements of Chris Fonteijn, ACM Chairman, who will be resigning this spring. The question is what priorities his successor will set. Is the Dutch Competition Act, which entered into force 20 years ago, still in keeping with the digital world in which market power and data protection issues are key? Will the enforcement of restrictions in vertical agreements become a priority for ACM? Or will ACM continue to focus on consumer issues?
In sum, 2018 promises to be an interesting year from a competition law perspective. As you have come to expect of us, a summary of the main expected developments is presented below.
Maverick Advocaten is the full-service competition law firm with one of the largest competition practices in the Netherlands. It focuses exclusively on competition law, regulated sectors and consumer law.
