Have These Drastic Times Called For Drastic Anti-Trust Measures?

As a result of the unprecedented circumstances we are currently facing, exceptional measures are being taken in a number of countries, namely due to the challenges various businesses are facing. On the 23 March 2020, the European Commission, the EFTA Surveillance Authority, and the National Competition Authorities issued a joint statement acknowledging that the current situation may require undertakings to cooperate with one another to ultimately benefit consumers. The Office for Competition, Malta's national competition authority, issued a statement confirming the contents of the joint statement on 24 March 2020 (see here).

Further to this joint statement, the European Commission (the 'Commission') adopted a Temporary Framework for assessing antitrust issues related to business cooperation in response to situations of urgency stemming from the current COVID-19 outbreak (the 'Temporary Framework') on 8 April 2020. In the Temporary Framework, the Commission