EU and Asia Antitrust and Competition Quarterly Briefing

Article by Riccardo Celli , Christian Riis-Madsen and Nathan Bush

With the new Commission taking office, the previous quarter was one of transition. While it is still too early to say how Commissioner Almunia and Director-General Italianer will influence EU competition policy and the Commission's future enforcement record, some immediate changes have been made. As described in more detail below, the most noticeable change is the significant delay of new legislation covering private damages actions in the EU.

Separately, several of the Block Exemption Regulations will be renewed. As described below, the new Insurance Block Exemption Regulation has just been issued. The Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and the Horizontal guidelines are to come later this year.