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Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Antitrust, Competition and Trade

The Rise of the Influencer: Consumer Protection and #Sponsored Content

Are you an influencer? Do you earn money or other benefits by creating content on social media? Influencers that are offered deals to advertise a brand’s products over social media platforms will qualify as traders and should thus disclose their adverts in a transparent manner. Over the coming weeks, the European Commission will be screening online posts to identify any sponsored posts uploaded to social media by influencers which could mislead consumers. This article will briefly consider your obligations, as an influencer, on the digital market. The rise of social media has given brand owners the ability to push their…
Laura Spiteri
24th October 2023
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

CJEU Rules that FDI cannot Restrict Fundamental Freedoms

In a recent response to a request for a preliminary ruling made by a court in Hungary, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the ‘CJEU’) delivered an interesting ruling on the applicability of the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation (the ‘FDI Regulation’). The FDI Regulation establishes a framework for the screening of foreign direct investments into the European Union (the ‘EU’) on the grounds of security or public order by the Member States. In the recent Xella judgment, the Hungarian Court asked the CJEU whether preventing foreign investors – including companies based in the EU but over which a…
Laura Spiteri
6th September 2023
Civil Court (Commercial Section) on whether a #retrial of #liquidationproceedings is possible
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Consumer Claims Tribunal Can Now Hear Claims of up to €10,000

On 10 July 2023, the Maltese Parliament resolved in favour of several amendments to the Consumer Affairs Act. These amendments serve two purposes. Firstly, the Consumer Claims Tribunal can now hear consumer claims of up to €10,000. This amendment represents a significant increase in the value of the claims that can be heard by the arbiter given the previous threshold of €5,000. This means that consumers can now opt to go to the Tribunal rather than initiate Court proceedings for a greater number of cases. Secondly, provision has now been made for the use of video conferencing in Tribunal proceedings…
Annalies Muscat
14th July 2023
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

New Horizontal Block Exemptions and Guidelines Adopted

The European Commission has adopted revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations on research and development agreements and specialisation agreements, as well as revised Horizontal Guidelines. This follows a thorough review of the existent rules. The aim is to provide businesses, as well as their advisors, with clearer and updated guidance in order to assist with the self-assessment of horizontal agreements – that is agreements with competitors – with the competition rules. The Block Exemptions will enter into force on 1 July 2023. The revised Guidelines notably contain reference to recent case law as well as take into account current business and…
Annalies Muscat
12th July 2023
On 18 April 2023, the European Commission confirmed that it has started unannounced inspections at various companies in the fashion sector across Europe.
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

European Commission Raids Fashion Companies Across Europe

The European Commission has confirmed that it has started dawn raids at the premises of companies operating in the fashion industry in several Member States. Officers from national competition authorities accompanied Commission officials at these inspections. The Commission has also sent out formal requests for information to such companies. The Commission clarified that it is concerned that these companies are in breach of Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits cartels and other restrictive arrangements, however no further details were forthcoming from the Commission at this stage. Unannounced inspections – or “dawn raids”…
Annalies Muscat
3rd May 2023
To Notify or Not to Notify? Merger Control Rules in Malta
Antitrust, Competition and Trade

Should the Gun be Jumped? A Brief Insight into Merger Control in Malta

Merger control constitutes the analysis carried out by the Office for Competition (the ‘Office’) in its assessment of those corporate transactions notifiable to it. The aim behind such an assessment is for the Office to consider whether that transaction – taking the form of the creation of a ‘concentration’ – is likely to impede effective competition. The Control of Concentration Regulations1 identify three types of concentrations: mergers, when two or more undertakings previously independent of one another fuse together resulting in an amalgamated new entity. acquisition of control, which consists of the acquisition of (in)direct control in an undertaking either…
Laura Spiteri
28th February 2023