Finland chapter for ICLG: Competition Litigation 2022 - Dittmar & Indrenius

Tags

Competition & Public Procurement

Written by

Ilkka Leppihalme

Partner

[email protected] +358 400 976 679

Toni Kalliokoski

Counsel

[email protected] +358 41 528 3008

The ICLG to: Competition Litigation covers common issues in competition litigation law and regulations – including interim remedies, final remedies, evidence, justification/defences, timing, settlement, costs, appeal, leniency and anticipated reforms.

Read our Finland overview.

Written by

Ilkka Leppihalme

Partner

[email protected] +358 400 976 679

Toni Kalliokoski

Counsel

[email protected] +358 41 528 3008

Tags

Competition & Public Procurement

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We See State Aid Cases on the Rise

Cases related to unlawful state aid have previously been rare in Finland but lately have become more common. Such unlawful aid can cause serious distortion in the markets, making fair competition very difficult and resulting in considerable losses for the competitors of the aid recipient.

Busy times ahead – Review of Finnish merger control in 2022

D&I’s annual merger control report highlights the most recent trends and developments in Finnish merger control enforcement. Although it was expected that 2021 was just calm before the storm, 2022 actually seemed to prolong the relative serenity of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority’s (“FCCA”) enforcement activity after some more eventful earlier years. Most of the FCCA’s activity in 2022 was in line with its enforcement practice of the previous year. For example, there were no proposals to prohibit concentrations, no declarations of incomplete notifications and no stop-the-clock decisions in 2022. However, one Phase II case in particular was burdensome for the FCCA and the parties alike, with the parties eventually modifying the transaction so that it fell outside of the jurisdiction of the FCCA. Moreover, the several legislative amendments adopted in the end of 2022 – namely lower notification thresholds and the new notification form – signal a busy 2023 for the FCCA and everyone else involved in Finnish merger control.

Foreign Subsidies Regulation

The new Foreign Subsidies Regulation (the “FSR” or the “Regulation”) – entering into force today, 12 January 2023 – introduces a further regulatory hurdle for companies active in the EU with financial connections to third countries. The FSR enables the European Commission (the “EC”) to screen foreign subsidies that may have a negative impact on the internal market by allowing it to review M&A transactions and public procurement procedures that include financial contributions from non-EU Member States. For companies, the FSR imposes a mandatory prior notification obligation for such transactions and procedures if the Regulation’s notification thresholds are exceeded, as well as a risk of heavy fines for non-compliance. Even if the notification thresholds are not met, the FSR enables the EC to screen any potential market distortions on its own initiative. While highlighting the trend of the EU’s increased scrutiny of transactions on several fronts, the FSR also adds regulatory hurdles to public procurement procedures.

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