Opinion of Advocate General meaning

Mergers AG advises Court of Justice to reject appeal against conditional Phase II clearance of the PKN/Gupto Lotos merger Advocate General Medina has delivered his opinion in Case C-541/23 P, Polwax v Commission, an appeal against the General Court’s judgment in Case T-585/20 that upheld the Commission’s 14 July 2020 decision conditionally clearing the acquisition of PKN Orlen after a Phase II investigation (M.9104). He recommends that the Court of Justice dismiss the first ground of appeal, which concerns the definition of the upstream market. Background On 14 July 2020, the Commission approved, subject to conditions, the proposed acquisition of Lotos by PKN Orlen (the Commission’s 2020 decision). Lotos and LKN Orlen were two large Polish integrated oil and gas companies. Following its Phase II review, the Commission concluded that the merger would harm competition, notably in the following areas: the wholesale and retail supply of motor fuels in Poland; the supply of jet fuel in Poland and the Czech Republic; and ...

Antitrust Advocate General suggests Google’s refusal to provide third party access to Android Auto platform may breach Article 102 TFEU Advocate General Laila Medina issued her opinion in Case C- 233/23 Alphabet and Others, a national reference from Italy that seeks guidance and clarification on whether Google’s stance of denying third-party access to Android Auto (a mobile app for Android devices) infringes Article 102 TFEU. For context, Google is the developer of Android OS, an open-source operating system for Android mobile devices. In 2015, Google rolled out Android Auto, an app for mobile devices with an Android operating system that allows motorists to use certain smartphone apps via a car’s integrated display. Independent developers are able to produce iterations of their own apps that work with Android Auto by applying templates supplied by Google. Enel X (part of the Enel Group) delivers electric car charging services. In May 2018, it introduced JuicePass, an app which provides a suite of features for charging electric vehicles. In September 2018, Enel X...

In this issue: New technologies Internet Media Advertising, marketing and sponsorship LexTalk®TMT: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&As Useful information New technologies Getty Images drops Stability AI copyright infringement claims from UK trial MLex reports that on 25 June 2025 Getty Images abandoned its direct copyright infringement claims against image generator Stability AI during the first day of closing submissions in a landmark three‑week High Court hearing in London. It is still pursuing allegations of trade mark infringement, passing off, secondary copyright infringement and issues around licensing, yet the move is a setback for the UK’s creative sector, which had sought clear precedent to provide broad copyright protection in the UK against AI models’ web scraping. See: Getty Images drops Stability AI copyright infringement claims from UK trial. IAB Tech Lab proposes framework for AI content usage compensation...

CASE HUB ARCHIVED This archived case hub sets out the position as at the decision date of 14 March 2019 and is no longer updated. For more, see the timeline, commentary, and related/relevant cases. Case facts Outline Case C‑724/17 Vantaan Kaupunki v Skanska Industrial Solutions and others – a preliminary reference from Finland asking whether, in a damages action, a company that has carried on the economic activity of a cartel member can be held liable for infringing Article 101 TFEU. Latest developments On 6 February 2019, Advocate General Wahl issued his opinion, concluding that Article 101 TFEU should be interpreted so that, when determining who is liable to pay damages for harm caused by a breach of Article 101 TFEU, the principle of economic continuity applies. Accordingly, in a private damages claim before a national court, a claimant may seek compensation from a company that has continued the economic activity of a cartel participant. Parties Vantaan kaupunki Skanska...

CASE HUB See further, timeline. Case facts Outline Appeal challenging the General Court’s ruling in Case T‑612/17, which in part sustained an application to annul the Commission’s decision of 27 June 2017 in Google Search (Shopping) (AT.39740). Outcome On 11 January 2024, Advocate General Kokott issued her opinion recommending that the Court of Justice uphold the €2.4bn fine imposed on Google for giving preferential treatment to its own comparison shopping service. Parties Appellant: Google LLC and Alphabet, Inc (together, Google) Defendants: The European Commission Background Commission investigation The Commission launched a formal investigation in November 2011 after multiple complaints, including from search service providers, alleging adverse treatment of their services in Google’s organic and sponsored results alongside alleged preferential placement of Google’s own services. On 15 April 2015, the Commission announced the opening of formal proceedings to examine whether Google breached Article 101 and/or Article 102 TFEU through...

This Practice Note gives an overview of the European company, Societas Europaea, or ‘SE’. It outlines how SEs are set up and run, their head office, share capital and shareholders, arrangements for employee participation, and the mechanism for shifting a head office from one Member State to another. What is a European company? A European company, also called a Societas Europaea (SE), is a corporate body that can be created within the EU. Once entered on the register in the Member State where its principal office sits, an SE enjoys recognition across Europe and holds its own separate legal personality. What is a head office? ‘Head office’ is not defined in EU legislation. The meaning of ‘head office’ was examined in the setting of Regulation (EC) 1346/2000 on insolvency proceedings (now no longer in force) in the Opinion of Advocate General Jacobs delivered on 27 September 2005 in Case C‑341/04, Eurofood IFSC (paragraphs 106–126 and 152(3)). An SE is a public limited liability company regulated...