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Companies involved in M&A deals falling below the EU and national notification thresholds need to think twice about their deal’s potential impact on competition from now on.

On 22 August 2020, the ban on abuse of economic dependence was implemented in Belgium. Now that almost a year has passed and the first judgments have been rendered, we assess what first lessons can be drawn from these judgments.

Now that political agreement has been reached on the final text, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) will enter into force soon. The DMA’s ex ante rules and obligations will apply next to the ad hoc EU and national competition rules.

Companies involved in multi-step acquisitions should beware of potential gun-jumping risks. The ACM has fined a trade association for failing to notify the acquisition of four pharmacies involving a consecutive partial resale.

On 22 March 2022, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) offered companies investigated for the same conduct by several authorities clarity on the core principles of the application of the non bis in idem (double jeopardy) protection.

On 7 March 2022, the Act implementing the ECN+ Directive into Belgian law was published in the Belgian Official Gazette. The Act entered into force on 17 March 2022.

On 8 March 2022, the law of 25 February 2022 amending the law of 22 March 2004 on securitisation entered into force. This is a welcomed (r)evolution in the securitisation operations in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

On 3 March 2022, the Luxembourg law of 25 February 2022 implementing a.o. the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Taxonomy Regulation has been published in the Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

The Belgian Gazette published a Royal decree completing the Belgian regulatory framework on crypto-exchange and wallet services providers. The decree enters into force on 1 May 2022.

De Europese Commissie heeft op 23 februari 2022 de Europese dataverordening (“Data Act”) voorgesteld, die het delen van data beoogt te bevorderen. Steeds meer gegevens worden door mensen en machines gegenereerd, bewaard en hergebruikt.

More antitrust clarity has arrived for companies involved in sustainability collaborations. The EC published draft revised rules on horizontal cooperation agreements and the ACM informally approved two green initiatives in the energy sector.

Only months after suspending an investigation into a possible wage-fixing cartel, the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has warned employers, employers’ organisations, and trade associations to not engage in no-poach agreements. 

Pharma companies beware: discount schemes by former patent owners raise red flags at competition authorities.

Nothing is more fickle than information exchange: it changes colour under EU competition rules depending on the nature of the relationship between the exchanging companies.

On 23 February 2022, the European Commission published its draft Data Act, i.e. a proposal for a regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data. The text is part of the European strategy for data launched by the Commission in 2020.

Roos Elemans, Stijn de Jong and Kaj Privé contributed to Getting the Deal Through – Cartel Regulation 2022. In their publication, they discuss important issues that apply to cartel regulation in the Netherlands.

On 11 February 2022, the Belgian Official Gazette published a new law modifying the Belgian anti-money laundering law. The objective of the text is to introduce new provisions to regulate crypto-exchange and wallet service providers.