In particular, the rules on abuse of market power, merger control and civil damages will be amended.

In a highly unusual decision for Germany's Federal Cartel Office (FCO), on December 15, 2008, the agency imposed a fine of €4.5 million against U.S. company Mars, Inc. for violating the bar to closing in Germany pending the completion of the German merger review process.

On 5 October 2012, details were published concerning a 5 September 2012 decision by the German Federal Cartel Office prohibiting a proposed merger between two hospitals in Worms.

By judgment of 11 December 2012, recently published, the German Federal Court of Justice annulled the judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf of 7 December 2011.

On 12 June 2018, the German Federal Court of Justice delivered a highly anticipated judgment that clarified that the suspension of the limitation period for cartel damages claims also applies to claims that arose ...

In a judgment of 10 August 2011, the text of which has recently become available, the German Federal Court of Justice (the "Court") rejected an appeal on points of law brought by the public prosecutor against a judgment of the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2010, No. 4, available at www.vbb.com) acquitting an industrial property insurance corporation, HDI-Gerling Industrie Versicherung AG ("HDI-Gerling"), from liability for the participation of its legal

The Labour Court of Essen rejected all damages claims against the former Executive Board Member and Managing Director of a ThyssenKrupp subsidiary.

The EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) stresses that industry initiatives (next to multi-stakeholder initiatives) can constitute helpful tools for allowing covered companies...

In 2014, the FCO found that, whilst not being dominant, EDEKA's market position on the procurement market in the food retail sector was strong enough for its suppliers to be economically dependent on EDEKA.

The prominent German law magazine Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel published Frankfurt-based partner Sebastian Jungermann's article concerning foreign investment control and recent developments in Germany.

According to a press release of 18 March 2011, the German Federal Cartel Office has prohibited the plans of broadcasting groups RTL and Pro7Sat1 to form a joint venture for the creation and operation of an online video platform.

On 17 December 2013, the Regional Court of Düsseldorf dismissed a damages claim of approximately € 131 million brought by the Belgian company CDC Cartel Damages Claims SA ("CDC") against cement manufacturers Cemex Deutschland AG, Dyckerhoff AG, Lafarge Zement GmbH, Schwenk Zement KG, HeidelbergCement AG and Holcim Deutschland AG.

The gas and energy sector has been under close scrutiny by the German Federal Competition Office ("BKartA") and the German government. It could only be a matter of time before other member states' authorities follow suit.

The German government lowered the threshold for acquisitions of German companies by non-EU and non-European Free Trade Association ("EFTA") acquirers.

The "Digital Strategy 2025", adopted by the German Federal Government on March 1, 2016, aims to ensure that Germany remains a growing, modern and significant financial marketplace...

A German court's landmark decision in the European bathroom fittings cartel case has established a five-step framework for estimating cartel damages, with particular emphasis on using economic simulation models to assess pass-through rates to indirect purchasers. This analysis explores how these models address the fundamental challenge of reconstructing unobservable counterfactual market conditions and demonstrates their practical applicability in litigation.

The Court ordered Samsung to provide information and to render an account of past sales in Germany.

The long-awaited hearing on the admissibility of advertising blocker "AdBlock Plus" under competition law was held at the Federal Court of Justice recently.