Tag: antitrust

Google faces a total of nine antitrust complaints which EU regulators are now investigating, two sources said yesterday (2 August), as rivals ramped up the pressure on the world No. 1 search engine.

European industry bodies have called on the EU to fight excessive iron ore prices and prevent unfair competition, saying the current situation could hamper economic recovery and harm the competitiveness of manufacturing in Europe.

The European Commission yesterday (23 February) asked Google to defend fresh antitrust complaints amid accusations that the search engine buries competitors' adverts in places that are less visible to users.

Visa will likely be asked to lower the fees on its payment cards before Neelie Kroes ends her mandate as EU competition commissioner, sources close to the negotiations between the card company and the EU executive told EurActiv.

The European Commission has launched an investigation into possible anticompetitive behaviour by Danish drug company Lundbeck, just months after the conclusion of a lengthy inquiry into the pharmaceutical sector.

Microsoft will give consumers the choice of twelve different web browsers after the company gave in to EU antitrust demands to stop bundling its Windows operating software with its own popular browser, Internet Explorer.

The European pharmaceutical industry has expressed satisfaction with the publication of a long-awaited investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices in the sector, saying the final report is softer than a preliminary version released in November 2008.

The European Commission said yesterday (11 March) that it raided the premises of French electricity giant EDF on March 10 on suspicion of abusing its dominant market position.

Every year, victims of antitrust violations are denied billions of euros in compensation due to legal and procedural obstacles, according to the Commission, which will propose corrective measures following a stakeholder consultation. 

The Commission slapped a fine close to €152 million on Spanish operator Telefónica for preventing competition on broadband internet access over a period of five years by charging its competitors exaggerated wholesale prices. The penalty is twelve times higher than previous record fines involving telecoms companies. 

Brewers Heineken, Grolsh and Bavaria were fined an unprecedented €273.8 million after the Commission's anti-trust department uncovered evidence of price-fixing, with top management using code names to arrange secret hotel and restaurant meetings.

Business insurance may be overcharging their customers, according to a Commission report. It is now up to the industry and business-insurance customers to respond to the findings, ahead of looming anti-trust enforcement.

A computer security scientist from Britain is to monitor Microsoft's compliance with the Commission's March 2004 antitrust ruling.

The European Court of First Instance (CFI) has upheld penalties imposed on the software giant Microsoft by a Commission decision of March 2004.