Enforcement and digital regulation moved in parallel this week, with digital markets once again taking centre stage.
Brussels pressed ahead with implementation of the DSA and DMA, publishing the EU’s first systemic-risk map for very large platforms and search engines and opening three new DMA market investigations into Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure’s cloud practices.
At national level, the UK CMA fired its opening salvo under the DMCC, launching eight online-pricing probes while leaning into algorithmic transparency and consumer-manipulation risks. Across Central and Eastern Europe, regulators from Hungary to Armenia and Lithuania used speeches, soft-law and draft guidance to frame the policy boundaries for AI-driven conduct, platform compliance, and the interplay between competition rules and data protection.
Merger control was equally active and notably remedies-heavy. South Africa approved the Suzano–Kimberly-Clark transaction with a mix of foreclosure and public-interest commitments, while Germany cleared Demant–Kind after targeted divestitures and the US FTC imposed fuel-station and oil-change divestments in the ACT–Giant Eagle and Valvoline–Greenbriar deals. Romania’s ongoing scrutiny of the Mehiläinen–Regina Maria acquisition saw the publication of proposed price-cap commitments for assisted reproduction services, signalling the continued rise of behavioural remedies in healthcare transactions.
Traditional enforcement remained vigorous. Authorities in France issued the week’s most significant sanction—$217 million against TotalEnergies, Rubis and EG Retail for foreclosing access to Corsican depots—while Ukraine, Switzerland and the Netherlands advanced collusion investigations spanning security services, construction and infrastructure tenders. Cyprus opened an ex-officio probe into ready-mix concrete price rises, Slovenia raided HSE over alleged abuses in wholesale electricity, and the Czech authority offered a commitments-driven resolution to interoperability restrictions in digital recruitment markets.
Policymakers also shaped the terrain ahead. Japan published guidance on the interface between economic-security measures and competition rules; the UK CMA set out its 2026–2029 strategy with an explicit nod to operational independence; and Slovakia and Lithuania released detailed analyses on labour-market competition and regulated pricing frameworks. Kazakhstan’s OECD peer review and new guidance across Poland, Latvia and Spain reinforced how regulators are increasingly blending competition, consumer protection, and sectoral regulation in response to concentrated or fast-evolving markets.
Taken together, this was a week defined by tightening scrutiny of digital ecosystems, assertive cartel and dominance enforcement, and an expanding reliance on guidance, sector studies and cross-regulator coordination. Tech may dominate the headlines, but the global rhythm of bid-rigging cases, merger remedies, and policy recalibration shows no sign of slowing.
View all of our 55 news stories published this week here.
Litigation & Courts Round-Up
Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay €479 Million to Local Media
A Madrid commercial court issued one of the week’s most consequential platform-liability rulings, ordering Meta to pay €479 million to Spanish publishers for competition-law violations linked to the company’s refusal to remunerate news content and its data-driven advertising practices. Meta intends to appeal.
EU Courts – Digital Regulation Under Judicial Review
Amazon VLOP designation upheld: The General Court dismissed Amazon’s challenge to its classification as a very large online platform under the DSA, confirming the Commission’s broad discretion and signalling continued judicial backing for systemic-risk oversight.
SEP transparency dispute advances: Separately, German MEP Tiemo Wölken brought an action contesting the Commission’s refusal to release documents relating to the withdrawal of the EU’s proposed standard-essential-patents regulation—an access-to-documents challenge that underscores ongoing battles over policymaking transparency.
UK Collective Actions – A Busy Week for the Tribunal
Which? v Apple CPO hearing: Funding arrangements, class-representative independence, and Apple’s strike-out arguments dominated the two-day hearing, with Apple mounting a robust challenge to the economic underpinnings of the claim. A ruling on certification remains pending.
Telecoms overcharge claims certified: The Tribunal granted four CPOs against Vodafone, EE/BT, O2 and Three in the “bundled handset and airtime” litigation, although limiting claims to post-2015 conduct.
Class Action Closure – Le Patourel v BT
The Court of Appeal refused permission to appeal the Tribunal’s December 2024 judgment, which—despite finding BT dominant and its prices high—held that the charges were not legally unfair. With no legal error identified, the collective action is now formally closed.
