Vincent Power
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Articles by Vincent Power
EU - UK Competition Cooperation Agreement is signed
10 years and three days after former UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced in the House of Commons that there would be a referendum on Brexit, the EU and the UK have moved a little closer together. On 25 February 2026, the EU and the UK signed an agreement to facilitate competition enforcement between the two sides.This is the “Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland regarding cooperation on the application of their competition laws”.
Ireland’s lobbying legislation now extends to lobbying members of the CCPC
Ireland has a statutory regime dealing with the lobbying of certain designated public officials (DPOs). The regime is primarily contained in the Regulation of Lobbying Act 2015. The regime does not outlaw lobbying but rather it regulates the practice and ensures that the public is aware of who is lobbying whom on what issues and when by way of a public register – see www.lobbying.ie.
EU clears “France LNG” shipping acquisition
Mergers, acquisitions and certain joint ventures (so-called “concentrations”) in the maritime/shipping sector require pre-clearance on competition grounds by the European Commission before they may be implemented.
Teresa Ribera set to become the 13th EU Competition Commissioner
Assuming, as is widely expected, that she is endorsed by the European Parliament Teresa Ribera Rodríguez is set to be the next European Commissioner for Competition assuming, as is widely expected, she is endorsed by the European Parliament. She would be second Competition Commissioner holding Spanish nationality (along with Joaquin Almunia) and the third female to hold this high profile and powerful position (along with Neelie Kroes and incumbent Margrethe Vestager).
WhatsUp? A fine of €15.9m for deleting WhatApps during a European Commission competition dawn raid
Summary During a European Commission dawn raid, an employee deleted some WhatsApp messages containing business-related information which had been exchanged with a competitor The European Commission fined the employer €15.9m because of the deletions as it interfered with the “evidence” in the case which the Commission was investigating Simple messages companies subject to a regulatory dawn raid should tell everyone not to delete anything and seek legal advice don’t delete anything during a...
FDI screening in Ireland and M&A - What makes the target’s activities notifiable in Ireland?
The Screening of Third Country Transactions Act 2023 (Irish Screening Act) is due to come into force in the 1st week of September 2024. It follows the numerous FDI systems in place worldwide designed to protect national security (e.g. in other EU member States, the US with the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), the UK with the National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA) and in China with the Foreign Investment Law (FIL). What is the purpose of Irish Screening Act?
A&L Goodbody Mondaq Profile
Brexit: The Fog Is Now Clear – The UK Is Not Extending The Transition Period
Irish merger control 2023 review and 2024 preview.
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The CCPC’s Expanding Role in Digital Regulation
The Competition Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has been recently allocated with increased resources and new powers which will enable it to expand its role in regulating the digital economy. In its Strategy Statement 2024-2026 (the Strategy Statement) published on 15 November 2023, the CCPC acknowledges the need to adapt to the rapidly evolving digital sector and to ensure sufficient resources are targeted at the regulation of the digital and data space.
EU competition chief speaks about AI and competition law
When the Director General of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition (DG COMP) speaks, people listen. When he speaks about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and competition law, everyone should listen. This is because Olivier Guersent’s words matter and they give an insight into the Commission’s thinking even if the thinking is still relatively early-stage given that AI has yet to unfold fully.
Bus competition case to go ahead in Irish criminal court in 2025
A case involving alleged bid-rigging by some local bus operators is scheduled for 2025. In 2016, the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) investigated allegations of anti-competitive arrangements involving some local private bus operators in some counties in Ireland who had apparently bid for, and were awarded, public contracts to operate school bus routes.
Sustainability Agreements and Competition Law
As environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals become a growing business priority, competition law is, in some ways, adapting to encourage or facilitate collaboration between competitors that promote these objectives. On 1 June 2023, the European Commission (Commission) published its revised guidelines on horizontal cooperation (Guidelines), which includes a chapter on sustainability agreements.
New Chair of Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission: Brian McHugh appointed as Chair
On 15 September 2023, it was announced that Brian McHugh had been appointed as the new Chair of Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Mr McHugh has served as a member of the CCPC since 2017. He is responsible for competition enforcement and mergers, policy research and international affairs.
European Commission accepts further referrals of non-notifiable acquisitions from Member States under Article 22 EUMR
Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) allows Member States to request the European Commission (Commission) to examine certain acquisitions, even where they do not meet EU merger control thresholds. Traditionally, the Commission has discouraged referrals of transactions which are non-reportable at a national level.
2023: Review of Irish merger control in 2022
2023 Review of Irish merger control in 2022 algoodbody.com Review of Irish merger control in 2022 68 NOTIFICATIONS 16% decline from the 81 notified in 2021 but 21% higher than the average over the previous three years 70 DETERMINATIONS There were more complex cases compared to previous years 1 PROHIBITION Uniphar/Navicorp the first prohibition since 2008 4 DETERMINATIONS subject to remedies Mixture of behavioural, structural and hybrid remedies these reflect more involved reviews of complex...
Printing press was the daily music of Ted Crosbie's life
IT is my enduring image of a great newspaperman. Ted Crosbie is hunched over the antique desk in his office atop the Examiner Group headquarters in Academy Street, digesting a smorgasbord of printed words. Irish and British tabloid and broadsheet morning newspapers are opened wide before him — Ted’s breakfast — so many that pages fall haphazardly to the floor. Words matter to the titan of Cork publishing. He knows their power and never underestimates them.
EU’s Council adopts Digital Services Regulation
On 4 October 2022, the European Union's Economic and Financial Affairs Council adopted formally the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA is known formally as the "Regulation on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC" and is designed to create a safe digital space for both citizens and businesses.
Ireland to unveil new Competition law
Ireland January 21 2022 On 20 January 2022, the Irish Deputy Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, told Dáil Éireann – the more powerful of Ireland's two houses of parliament – that Ireland will publish new competition legislation during the week of 24 January 2022. Mr Varadkar said that he would bring the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022 to the Irish Cabinet on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 with the text of the Bill to be published later that week.
Davie Street Enterprises embraces cloud technologies and services
In this post: Learn how DSE is using Red Hat Cloud Services to embrace modern tech industry best practices. Throughout our fictional case study of Davie Street Enterprises (DSE), we have witnessed how embracing modern tech industry best practices have drastically increased the speed at which the company can accomplish its goals while improving overall operational efficiency.
Dawn raids in alleged pyramid selling case
Ireland November 8 2021 Dawn raids are well-known in competition or antitrust law cases, however they can also arise in consumer law cases in Ireland. Ireland's consumer agency – the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) – has, according to media reports, conducted two dawn raids in regard to allegations of pyramid selling.
The lifecycle of big tech EU competition cases | Lexology
The European Commission has a growing list of tech-related competition cases. What are they about? What happens in these cases? What are the outcomes? A&L Goodbody's Dr Vincent Power unpacks the "who, what, when, why and how" of EU tech cases generally. He is not examining any one case but rather giving a toolkit to decipher almost any case now and in the future. Who? The Brussels-based European Commission is the "guardian" of EU law.
Five things you might not have known about Brexit’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement | Lexology
European Union, United Kingdom March 23 2021 1. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) is not yet fully in force Despite being announced on 24 December 2020 and signed on 30 December 2020, the TCA is still not in full force. For example, it is still only "provisional". The European Parliament and the European Council have yet to sign off on the document. It is expected that they will sign off by the end of April 2020. So, Brexit is not yet done! 2.
Brexit: The Fog Is Now Clear – The UK Is Not Extending The Transition Period - Government, Public Sector - European Union
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It’s in the bag: Irish competition agency closes investigation in the bagged cement sector | Lexology
On 28 February 2020, Ireland's Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) announced that it had closed its investigation into alleged anti-competitive practices in the "bagged cement sector". CCPC's Power and Role The CCPC is the principal competition agency in Ireland. It has substantial powers to investigate alleged breaches of competition law. There are however two aspects of these powers which are worth noting.
Dawn raids - Competition Law Insight
Some practical advice for the general counsel 2019-11-19 00:00:00.0 So much of the advice on handling competition law dawn raids describes what businesses should do when one occurs. Very little attention is usually paid to the mistakes which businesses make and what not to do during a dawn raid. This short article therefore sets out the “dos and don’ts” and considers the issue temporally: before, during, and after the inspection. Forgotten password?
Antitrust evolution
Recent developments in Irish competition law 2019-06-20 00:00:00.0 It is interesting to review competition law developments in Ireland given: (a) the surprising significance of the Irish economy in global terms; and (b) the evolution of the country’s competition law regime. Forgotten password?
Irish Merger Control Notification Thresholds Raised | Lexology
Ireland obliges businesses to notify Ireland’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“CCPC”) of those mergers and acquisitions involving parties with turnovers above certain thresholds. The aggregate turnover in the previous year of the businesses involved in a proposed merger or acquisition increases from €50m to €60m. The turnover in the previous year of two or more undertakings involved in the proposed merger or take-over increases from €3m to €10m.
Brexit and competition law
There has been considerable discussion about the likely implications of Brexit for competition law. Much of the analysis concludes, somewhat optimistically, that there will be little change post-Brexit. That conclusion could be overly optimistic. It is difficult to see how Brexit, which clearly would have such profound implications for law generally, would have so few consequences for competition law given the heavy influence by EU law on competition law.
Brexit and Cross-Border Shopping: No Off the Shelf Brexit Solution in Store
One of the many unresolved issues relating to Brexit is the issue of cross-border retailing. While there are certainly issues relating to online cross-border shopping (e.g., the imposition of VAT, additional charges for checks as well as delays caused by possible border/customs delays), there are certainly plenty of issues relating to cross-border bricks and mortar retailing as well. The border between Ireland and Northern Ireland ("NI") is a neat case study.
Good Times Return? Second Highest Number Ever of M&A Deals Notified to the European Commission
2017 saw the second highest ever annual number of notifications of M&A deals to the European Commission under the EU's Merger Control Regulation since the Regulation entered into force in 1990. In 2017, there were 380 deals notified to the European Commission under the Regulation. The highest annual number of notifications ever was in 2007 when 402 deals were notified.
Triggering Article 50: Will it be forgotten?
Vincent Power, Head of EU & Competition at A&L Goodbody was interviewed on Newstalk on 22nd March about the triggering of Article 50 on 29th March. He joined Vincent Wall on the Breakfast Business show and highlighted a combination of legal challenges, elections, an EU tradition of protracted negotiating processes, and even a possible referendum in Ireland as factors which can delay Brexit. Triggering Article 50 is big news now but it will be largely forgotten.
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