Competition weekly highlights—22 September 2022

Article summary

This week's edition of Competition weekly highlights includes from a UK perspective, (1) the CMA’s provisionally finding that the NEC Software Solutions UK/Capita Secure Solutions and Services merger raises competition concerns and that full divestiture of the merger would be the most effective remedy, and (2) CMA’s decision to refer the Microsoft Corporation/Blizzard Activision merger for a phase 2 investigation, (3) BEIS consultation on the draft texts of the Competition Act 1998 Block Exemption Orders for Specialisation and R&D agreements. From an EU perspective, the weekly highlights include (1) the Court of Justice’s judgment that Gibraltar is not precluded from applying its domestic tax set-off laws in the recovery of unlawful State aid, and (2) the General Court’s judgment dismissing an appeal against the Commission’s decision finding that the Maderia Free Zone scheme was not implemented in line with approved conditions and was therefore unlawful.