The Digital Single Market Strategy: ʻ rebooting ʼ EU into the digital era

The Digital Single Market Strategy was published on 6 May 2015 together with a voluminous document of evidence and analysis. The strategy aims at realizing the opportunities offered by digital technologies, which know no borders, as President’s Jean-Claude Juncker put it in the Political Guidelines. The strategy is already raising concerns and praise but all in all has…

One out of ten

The Digital Single Market has been positioned in the top ten priorities of the EU Commission, where Commissioner Ansip has been appointed to take the lead to deliver together with his team a proposal for a Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy. The DSM strategy would be unveiled today so there will be more to come.…

Protectionism in Merger Control: Is the Process of Merger Control Adequate to Consider Wider Public Interest Issues? Is it Now Time for CFIEU?

Whether a broader public interest test should apply to merger control has recently been discussed by Alex Chisholm, CEO of the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, after being raised at Prime Minister’s questions during Pfizer’s attempt to acquire Astra Zeneca. Similar issues also arose this year in France regarding General Electric’s bid for Alstom. They…

Why are litigation letters often so dreadful?

There is no genre of literature more dismal – more utterly depressing to read – than the letters of litigation solicitors. Every day hundreds, perhaps thousands, of these wearisome missives are compiled and dispatched.  And many contain the most insincere and heart-sinking language. The authors of this dreadful correspondence will invariably profess themselves “surprised” or…