On 15 February 2010, Mr Joaquín Almunia of Spain commenced his
five-year term as European Commissioner responsible for
competition. He previously served as Commissioner for economic and
monetary affairs.
In his initial statements, Mr Almunia has focused on the need to
take Europe out of the economic crisis, while still vigorously
enforcing the competition rules. One area where Mr Almunia has
indicated that change may be necessary is State aid, including a
revision of the procedural framework for State aid in order to
modernise and speed up investigations as well as the development of
new guidelines in relation to research and development, training
and environmental aid.
Mr Almunia's predecessor, Mrs Kroes, gained a reputation as a tough
enforcer of the competition rules, and Mr Almunia's early
statements give no indication that this will change. He has stated
that the economic crisis is a reason for applying the competition
rules diligently, rather than relaxing them, and has made clear
that he sees no reason to alter the Commission's current policy on
setting fines. Moreover, the Commission will continue looking into
ways of encouraging private antitrust damages actions for breaches
of competition law.
Please click on the links below for the other articles in
the March 2010 competition newsletter
Contacts
Nigel Parr
T: +44 (0)20 7859 1763
E: nigel.parr@ashurst.com
Neil Cuninghame
T: +44 (0)20 7859 1147
E: neil.cuninghame@ashurst.com
Mats Johnsson
T: +46 (0)8 407 24 68
E: mats.johnsson@ashurst.com
This newsletter is not intended to be a comprehensive review of
all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects
of those referred to. Readers should take legal advice before
applying the information contained in this publication to specific
issues or transactions.