Author: Marc Barennes
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The French Competition Authority’s Public Consultation regarding Conversational Agents: An Opportunity for All the Stakeholders to Explain the Market to the Regulator
1. After opening on 9 January 2026 an ex officio investigation in the conversational agents sector, the French Autorité de la concurrence (the “Authority”) has launched on 29 January 2026 a public consultation in this regard (the “Consultation”), marking another step in the Authority’s scrutiny of the generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) value chain.[1] 2. Stakeholders still have a bit…
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The Zalando, Meta and TikTok rulings: key takeaways from the first three DSA judgments of the General court
By Marc Barennes,[1] Jérémie Jourdan[2] and Maria Gravvani[3] Introduction The Digital Services Act (“DSA”)[4] regulates online intermediaries and platforms such as marketplaces, social networks, content-sharing platforms, app stores, and online travel and accommodation platforms which are offered to users (aka ‘recipients of the service’[5]) located in the European Union.[6] Its main goal is to prevent illegal and harmful activities…
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The Recent ASG 2 Ruling: the Court of Justice of the EU Confirms the Right of Consumers and Undertakings to Bundle their Damages Claims in the Absence of a Collective Action Mechanism
Antitrust damages claimants, both in Germany and the rest of the European Union (“EU”), have reasons to rejoice. In its ASG 2 ruling delivered on 28 January 2025 (hereafter the “Ruling” )1, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) ruled, in essence, that in the absence of an effective collective action…
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Generative Artificial Intelligence and Competition: The Main Takeaways of the Recent Opinion Issued by the French Competition Authority
Taking stock of the phenomenal rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), competition enforcement authorities throughout the world are actively engaging in research and consultations to identify and prevent potential violations of competition laws in this sector. It is in this context that the French Competition Authority (the “FCA”) issued its first opinion on the competitive…