12/11/2016

The Umbrella Principle Counsel Opinion is that fees imposed pursuant to the Minimum Fees Regulations cannot be enforced since they are null and void under Article 101(2) TFEU. The CBA and/or any of its members could face civil actions in the Cypriot courts or the courts of other Member States for damage caused by the violation of Article 101 TFEU. Further to the above Counsel opinion is that even clients who were not subject to the system of minimum fees – because they concluded agreements to

10/23/2016

The fixing of minimum fees is a decision which has as its “object” the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition Price-fixing is an obvious, and serious, violation of Article 101. Indeed, Article 101(1) expressly identifies direct and indirect price-fixing as an example of anticompetitive conduct: 1. The following shall be prohibited as incompatible with the internal market: all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which

10/01/2016

Section C of the Complaint - The fixing of minimum fees is a decision by an association of undertakings 1.         The CBA as an association of undertakings 35 In addition to agreements and concerted practices, Article 101 TFEU applies to decisions by “association of undertakings.”  This is a term of art under Article 101(1).  An “association of undertakings” refers to a representative or cooperative body or entity, usually with members, whose rules or decisions or recommendations are