Non-Compete And No-Poach Agreements: Towards Convergence Of The US And EU Approaches?

Following up on an earlier blog post outlining the United States Federal Trade Commission's ("FTC") increased regulatory action against non-compete agreements in employment contracts,¹ a view across the pond reveals that European competition authorities follow these developments with interest – the prospect of groundbreaking new developments is more limited, though.

When asked about the FTC's proposals, Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Competition, recently lauded the envisaged steps as "impressive".² She noted, though, that given the structural differences between the US and European labor markets, cases investigated at national level had been rare and small so far, but pledged to act swiftly if her authority encountered such clauses.³ Her remarks build upon a speech delivered in October 2021, when she announced a "new era of cartel enforcement", widening the enforcement focus to buyer cartels, including