Competition Review – August 2015

We publish the latest EU competition news on a regular basis. We hope that you enjoy our most recent content, and please feel free to share it with your network!

ANTITRUST

European Commission sent a Statement of Objections to MasterCard due to a breach of antitrust rules caused by MasterCard’s rules that prevented banks from offering lower interchange fees to retailers based in another EEA Member State, and due to an artificially high minimum price for processing transactions in the EU using MasterCard cards issued in other world regions >>

MERGER CONTROL

European Commission cleared the acquisition of Irish airline Aer Lingus by International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) subject to conditions, including the release of five daily slot pairs at London-Gatwick airport and Aer Lingus continuing to carry connecting passengers to use the long-haul flights of competing airlines out of six airports >>

STATE AID

European Commission approved the state aid of over EUR 750 million in Poland, finding that Poland’s plans to grant aid for nine gas projects are compatible with EU state aid rules >>

NEWS FROM FINLAND

The Supreme Administrative Court requests for a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice in a case concerning public service obligation in the postal sector and the interpretation of the EU Postal Directive. Borenius represents Ilves Jakelu in this case (in Finnish) >>