The Thicket
Published on October 30, 2025
UK Competition and Market Authority’s consultation on merger remedies confirms greater flexibility
The CMA's consultation on its revised merger remedies guidance, published on 16 October 2025, confirms a more flexible approach to remedies including in Phase 1... Continue
Published on October 28, 2025
Balancing Fundamental Rights and Antitrust Enforcement: AG Medina’s Opinions on Email Seizures in IMI/Synlabhealth II
Do the fundamental rights to the protection of private life (Article 7 of the Charter[1]) and of personal data (Article 8 of the Charter[2]) preclude... Continue
Published on October 15, 2025
Bulls vs Monsters: The General Court rejects Red Bull’s appeal against the Commission’s dawn raid decision
On 15 October, the General Court (“GC”) rejected Red Bull’s appeal against the European Commission (“EC”) dawn raid decision, in a case triggered by an... Continue
Published on September 26, 2025
Combination Therapies in Pharma – Removing the Antitrust Roadblock
This month, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) published guidance on information exchange between pharmaceutical companies in the context of the reimbursement application procedure for combination... Continue
Published on September 18, 2025
Private Equity and Common Ownership in Professional Rugby: Applying the Delivery Hero Standard
By Dr Beverley Williamson From time to time, the Thicket blog invites guest bloggers to write about a topic that is close to their heart.... Continue
Published on September 8, 2025
Nissan Iberia (C-21/24): The Clock for Damages Actions Only Starts Ticking Once the National Competition Authority’s Decision is Final
Introduction Private damages actions are now firmly established as a key tool of EU competition law enforcement. As regularly asserted by the Court of Justice... Continue
Published on July 30, 2025
Fast but fair? interim injunctions and the fast-track procedure in the Competition Appeal Tribunal
For claimants in competition cases, timing can be everything. Access to a key supplier, data feed, or distribution channel can make or break a business—especially... Continue
Published on July 7, 2025
Applying Occam’s razor to the question of whether MIFs are by object infringements. Are we already starting to see UK diverge from Europe on what should go in the object box?
The CAT’s liability judgment in the Umbrella Interchange Fee case is not for the faint of heart. The former CAT President’s reasoning spans to around... Continue
Published on June 5, 2025
Strasbourg calling – ECHR majority CLEARS Competition Wiretap Case (But mind the dissenters)
Ships Waste Oil Collector B.V. and Others v The Netherlands, Joined cases 2799/16, 2800/16, 3124/16 and 3205/16, Judgment of the ECHR Grand Chamber of 01/04/2025... Continue
Published on May 21, 2025
FIFA vs Agents: 1-0 at halftime – AG Emiliou Defends FIFA’s Football Agent Regulations
Introduction In two significant cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Advocate General Emiliou (the AG) delivered his eagerly awaited opinions... Continue