Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter, which explores recent competition law developments across the UK and EU.

As 2025 draws to a close, we have continued to see significant developments across a range of areas of EU and UK competition law. 

From an EU perspective, we reflect on the European Commission’s renewed focus on vertical restraints over the last 18 months, discuss the Court of Justice’s latest “pay for delay” ruling in Modafinil, and examine the Commission’s evolving decisional practice under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), in view of its recent conditional clearance in ADNOC/Covestro.

In the UK, a key milestone has been reached in the new digital markets regime with the CMA’s first three “strategic market status” (SMS) designations – of Google’s general search business, and Apple and Google’s mobile platforms. We look at the key takeaways from the three SMS decisions. We also consider the CMA’s revised guidance on merger remedies, and explore the implications of the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s recent damages decision in the Boundary Fares case, which had some interesting things to say about the scope of abuse of dominance under UK competition law.

Protecting the single market: vertical restraints back in focus

Over the past 18 months, the European Commission has re-intensified its scrutiny of resale price maintenance, online sales restrictions, and practices restricting parallel trade, with recent fines on three major fashion houses confirming that vertical restraints are once again a central enforcement priority for the Commission.
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Wake-up call: CJEU's modafinil judgment highlights risks in patent settlement side deals

On 23 October 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union upheld the Commission’s antitrust fines against Teva and Cephalon. The judgment cements the EU Courts’ approach to so-called “pay-for-delay” agreements and highlights the risks that can arise where parties conclude commercial side-agreements as part of a patent settlement.
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CMA confirms evolution in its approach to merger remedies with new draft guidance

Following a high-profile review, the CMA has published revised draft guidance on merger remedies. The new guidance reflects a more open-minded approach to complex and/or behavioural remedies, but the changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary.
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European Commission conditionally approves ADNOC–Covestro deal, following second in-depth FSR merger investigation

The European Commission recently conditionally approved Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s acquisition of Covestro. We examine the essential details of the clearance, and consider how it builds upon the Commission’s previous FSR clearance decision in e&/PPF.
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Key takeaways from the CMA’s first round of SMS designations

The CMA’s designation of Google and Apple as the first firms with strategic market status is a watershed moment for the UK’s new digital markets regime. We examine key points from the designation decisions, ahead of the CMA's forthcoming proposals on conduct requirements.
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Clarifying the boundaries of abuse of dominance: Competition Appeal Tribunal dismisses Boundary Fares collective proceedings

The Competition Appeal Tribunal recently dismissed three parallel opt-out collective proceedings concerning rail Boundary Fares. We explore the judgment’s clarifications on the scope of abuse of dominance, and its broader implications for the UK’s collective proceedings regime.
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This edition was edited by Senior Associate, Matthew Jones.

If you have any questions about the articles in this newsletter, do not hesitate to reach out to Matthew, or any of your usual contacts: Cameron Firth, Malcolm Walton, Christophe Humpe, Caja Griesenbach, Foad Hoseinian and Fiona Beattie.