The European Commission has finally disclosed its intention to challenge the Apple judgement delivered by the General Court on the 15th of July.[1]General Court, 15 July 2020, Apple Sales International and Apple Operations Europe v Commission, Cases T-778/16 and T-892/16, ECLI:EU:T:2020:338. Although it has been a difficult choice, considering the highly political implications of the matter,…

Introduction The definition of the territorial limits of the State of Israel is one of the main reasons behind the conflict in the Middle East, with consequences that often extend beyond the classic issues of international politics. As known, the last massive Israeli expansion occurred in 1967 with the Six-Day War and currently the Golan…

In its first judgment regarding the European Commission’s recent fiscal State aid decisions, the EU General Court (GC) last week annulled the Commission’s decision of 11 January 2016 on Belgium’s so-called “excess profit rulings”. The exemption for “excess” profits The case concerns a specific provision in Belgian tax law, which provides for the possibility to…

Source: M People, Moving on Up music video. Copyright 1993 Sony Music BMG I. Introduction “You’ve done me wrong, your time is up You took a sip from the devil’s cup You broke my heart, there’s no way back Move right out of here, baby, go on pack your bags” M People, ‘Moving on Up’…

Is the Commission stricter than the IAAF? The European Athletics Championships finished this Sunday. Some athletes “jumped the gun” by beginning a race before the official signal was given. Those athletes might debate with a referee whether they actually left before the starting shot or not, but no doubt they all know exactly what gun-jumping…

On April 19, 2018, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) delivered a judgment dealing with the notions of abusive discrimination and competitive advantage under Article 102(2)(c) TFEU. The case concerned abusive price discrimination by a dominant company, between two customers competing in a downstream market (so-called non-exclusionary abusive discrimination). While ostensibly attempting to adapt the…

With its judgment of 5 June 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union has provided much overdue legal certainty for same-sex couples regarding their right of free movement under the EU Treaties. In the Coman-case, the Romanian Constitutional Court asked the CJEU whether EU law prevented the Romanian authorities from refusing a right…

We wanted to draw your attention to some interesting articles about the topics of the Regulating for Globalization blog that appeared in the Global Trade and Customs Journal in 2017:   Lorand Bartels, ‘The UK’s WTO Schedules’ (2017) 12, Issue 3 This article argues that the EU’s GATT and GATS schedules are binding on the UK in its…

Introduction On 21 February 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union interpreted the notion of ‘working time’ mentioned in the European Working Time Directive (2003/88). The Court stated that stand-by time which a worker spends at home with the duty to respond to calls from his employer must be regarded as ‘working time’….

Ever since the European Court of Justice brought the rule-making activity of sports federations within the scope of EU law, the European competition rules have emerged as a unique instrument to assert control over sports’ transnational private regulatory power. Other than in the area of revenue-generating activities related to sports (e.g. ticket sales arrangements or…

On December 20, 2017, the CJEU passed a landmark case on the legal status of Uber.  On February 19, KU Leuven’s Faculty of Law will hold a conference on the legal status of online intermediaries in the platform economy. Members of the faculty experts in all the relevant branches of the law will comment on…

On Saint Nicholas’ birthday 2017 (6 December), the Court of Justice (the Court) held that selective distribution agreements, which prevent authorised distributors from using unauthorised third-party (online) platforms to sell luxury goods can in principle be compatible with Article 101(1) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU); the prohibition on anti-competitive…

Need for a transitory mechanism In 2009, the EU acquired exclusive competence to regulate foreign direct investment (FDI) – which previously rested with its Member States – through the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. Since then, the European Commission has been engaging in the negotiation of international investment agreements (IIAs) and investment chapters…

Since 2013, the European Commission has taken an increasing interest in Member States’ practices of granting tax benefits to mainly multinational undertakings by means of individual tax rulings or specifically tailored tax agreements. In this respect, the Commission in October 2015 found that the Netherlands has given unlawful aid to Starbucks and Luxemburg to Fiat…

On September 14, 2017, the EU Court of Justice issued a preliminary ruling in Case C-177/16, Akka-Laa, on excessive pricing in the collective management of copyright licences. In 2013, the Latvian Competition Council fined Akka-Laa for abusing its dominance by imposing too high rates for its services. Akka-Laa is a copyright management organization. It enjoyed a…

In the “Trade for all” strategy issued in October 2015, the EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström explained how the Juncker Commission would translate the strong commitment to transparency into concrete actions in the EU’s trade policy. The actions identified by the Commission to increase transparency in trade defence as laid down in the Trade for…

On 18 July 2017, the German Federal Constitutional Court issued its second preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. This time, it doubts the legality of the ‘Quantitative Easing’ programme of the European Central Bank. The first reference, from 2014, also concerned central bank action. At the height of the debt…