(i) New infringement proceedings

1. The CNMC joins the group of competition authorities that are investigating tech giants [1]: the CNMC opens a case against APPLE and AMAZON for a potential breach of Article 1 of the Spanish Competition Act and Article 101 of the TFEU arising from an alleged agreement to restrict on the AMAZON website the retail sale of APPLE products by third parties and the advertising of competing APPLE products.

2. The CNMC starts an investigation against important Spanish banks in relation to Covid-19 related practices [2]: the CNMC initiates infringement proceedings against several major Spanish banks for potential unfair acts in breach with Article 3 of the Spanish Competition Act arising from the linkage to different products allegedly required as a condition for customers to access Covid-19 related credit lines. 

(ii) Infringement decisions

3. The CNMC recognizes the merits of an antitrust compliance program in an infringement decision [3]: on account of the implementation of an effective antitrust compliance program by INDRA, the CNMC has reduced its fine by 10% and exempted it from the prohibition to take part in upcoming tenders offered by public administrations.

(iii) Merger control

4. The CNMC imposes commitments for the first time in mergers in the banking sector: the CNMC imposes commitments in two mergers involving major Spanish banks (CAIXABANK/BANKIA [4] and UNICAJA/LIBERBANK [5]) as a result mainly of their alleged impact on certain local retail banking markets.  

(iv) Competition Policy

5. The CNMC publishes its strategic plan for 2021-2026 [6]: is focused on the digital sector and other sectors affected by the Covid-19 (pharmaceuticals, insurance, funeral, and financial services).

6. Stand-alone damage actions are gaining traction in Spanish courts: almost €2 million have been awarded in the ruling of a Spanish Commercial Court as a result of a stand-alone claim for antitrust damages brought against dairy producers in relation to the Spanish milk cartel [7].

7. Another dawn raid of the CNMC annulled by the Spanish courts: similarly to what happened with the ruling of the Supreme Court in the case of REPSOL [8] in 2018, the High Court has annulled the CNMC dawn raid at the premises of the tobacco firm ALTADIS, [9] which is connected to its infringement decision in the case Tobacco [10], given that the company’s consent for inspectors to enter was vitiated since the representative was not informed whether a court order authorising the raids existed.

8. The High Court annuls a 2016 CNMC decision on account of lack of incriminating evidence [11]: the lack of incriminating evidence of a single and continuous infringement has led to the annulment of the CNMC decision in which fines amounting to EUR 29 million were imposed to more than 20 cement companies for their participation in an alleged cartel.

9. Spain implements the ECN+ Directive by introducing limited amendments to the Spanish Competition Act [12]: it has been postponed a more ambitious reform which, among others, (i) introduces the settlement procedure in Spain, (ii) increases the maximum amount of fines for antitrust breaches to executive directors up to EUR 400,000, or (iii) modifies the merger control thresholds.

10. Extension of the FDI screening regime that affects EU-EFTA investors [13]: it has been extended until 31 December 2021 the temporary FDI screening regime that affects investments carried out by EU-EFTA residents in Spanish companies which operate in a strategic sector and are (i) listed, or (ii) unlisted but the value of the investment exceeds EUR 500 million.