The Monopolies Commission today submitted its twenty-first main report to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy in accordance with Section 44(1) of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB). The report is entitled ‘XXI. Main Report – Competition 2016’. 

The report focuses on

• the investigations into business concentration and antitrust decision-making practice required by law, as well as
• the topics of the Ninth Amendment to the GWB, airport regulation, centralised marketing in the Bundesliga, and digital markets: the sharing economy and FinTechs.  

Separate press releases (PR) are available for the individual sections. The Monopolies Commission’s recommendations relate, amongst other things, to: 

• closer monitoring of institutional investors’ shareholdings in multiple companies within a single market (press release on business concentration)
• the extension of the scope of German merger control through a new trigger criterion based on transaction volume (press release on the Ninth Amendment to the GWB)
• facilitating claims for damages by companies and consumers harmed by cartels (press release on the Ninth Amendment to the Act Against Restraints of Competition)
• the closing of liability loopholes for corporate groups under antitrust fine law (Press Release: Ninth Amendment to the GWB)  the strengthening of ex post evaluation of decisions by the competition authorities (Press Release: Decision-Making Practice)
• the regulation of airport charges by an independent central authority, the use of market-based instruments for the allocation of airport slots (time slots for take-off and landing) and the further liberalisation of ground handling services at airports (Press Release: Airport Regulation)
• the allocation of exclusive broadcasting rights in the Bundesliga and greater coordination amongst European competition authorities when assessing various centralised marketing models (Press Release: Centralised Marketing of the Bundesliga)
• the prevention of distortions of competition between traditional providers, e.g. taxi and hire car providers, and new providers in the sharing economy, e.g. platforms connecting private drivers, by revising existing regulations and introducing an appropriate regulatory framework for new services (Press Release: Digital Markets)
• the promotion of standards and compatible solutions for digitally delivered financial services – e.g. via access to IT interfaces – and consideration of the impact of regulatory measures on the development of cross-border services, for example where there are differing consumer information requirements (Press Release: Digital Markets)