Bonn, December 22, 2025 — The German authority has published its annual review for 2025, outlining enforcement actions across cartel cases, digital platforms, energy markets, and merger control, including fines totaling around €10 million (approximately $11.7 million).
Cartel Enforcement
Cartel prosecution remained a central pillar of the authority’s work in 2025. Fines of around €10 million were imposed on companies and individuals for unlawful agreements, including vertical price-fixing in the audio products sector. The authority reported a high volume of new leads, with around 600 tip-offs submitted through its anonymous whistleblowing system, alongside further reports via external channels.
Based on these inputs, the authority opened new investigations and carried out dawn raids in ten cases, in some instances working closely with international counterparts.
Digital Economy Cases
Proceedings involving major digital players featured prominently during the year. The authority pursued cases against Apple, Google, Amazon, and Meta. In the Apple case, a market test was launched to assess proposed remedies concerning the company’s app ecosystem. Objections were issued against Amazon regarding potential price control mechanisms, while proceedings involving Google Automotive Services and Google Maps Platform were closed following commitments offered by the company.
Energy Measures and Mineral Oil Markets
In the energy sector, proceedings examining supplier conduct linked to energy price relief measures were largely concluded in 2025. As a result, around €200 million ($218 million) in government compensation payments were returned. The authority noted that most companies reviewed had complied with the applicable rules.
The authority also completed its sector inquiry into the mineral oil market and subsequently opened proceedings under Section 32f of the German Competition Act. These proceedings focus on potential structural issues in the wholesale fuel market and whether remedial measures may be necessary.
Abuse Control and Key Industries
Abuse control continued to focus on energy and utilities. The 2025 Monitoring Report, prepared jointly with the Bundesnetzagentur, found that electricity and gas markets generally function well, while identifying areas under closer observation, including district heating.
The food retail sector remained under scrutiny, with ongoing proceedings against Coca-Cola, the Edeka group, and other retailers concerning potentially exclusionary discounts and trading terms. Additional cases were opened against Whaleco Technology Limited (Temu) over pricing rules and against Vodafone and Vantage Towers in the telecommunications sector concerning alleged barriers to market entry.
Merger Control
During 2025, the authority reviewed around 900 merger projects, most of which were cleared in the first phase. One transaction was blocked: the planned acquisition of three Vion slaughterhouses by the Tönnies Group, due to concerns in regional cattle slaughter markets.
The authority also imposed forward-looking notification obligations in several cases, including an order requiring the Rethmann Group, owner of Remondis, to notify certain future transactions for a three-year period, even when turnover thresholds are not met.
Procurement and Competition Register
In public procurement matters, the federal procurement tribunals handled around 130 review applications, many linked to large infrastructure projects. Use of the Competition Register remained high, with contracting authorities conducting around 1,100 searches per day. In total, 21 applications for deletion from the register following successful self-cleaning measures were approved during the year.
