News & Media Archives - The Competition Law Hub

The Austrian Brau Union Case Unsettles Heineken

ComplawAdmin — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 12:55:48 +0000

In a recent interview with Orla McDonald from the Dutch Het Financieele Dagblad, Vicky Robertson discussed the developing case law of the Austrian Supreme Court on antitrust fines. She emphasised that the Court has issued ever stricter fining decisions over the past years against the background of the need for deterrence. This could also impact Heineken as the mother company of Brau Union, a company that is under scrutiny for abuse of dominance in an ongoing Austrian case.

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Book Award for Klaudia Majcher

ComplawAdmin — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 10:12:50 +0000

Klaudia Majcher’s book on ‘Coherence between Data Protection and Competition Law in Digital Markets’ was awarded the Irena & Jerzy Wiszniewski Foundation Award for the best scholarly work in the field of trademarks, patents and competition law. Published by Oxford University Press in 2023, when Klaudia was Assistant Professor at WU Vienna, the book argues for a more integrated approach to enforcing competition law and data protection in digital markets.

The award was presented on 19 March 2026 during the conference ‘The Regulation of Markets in Defence of Democratic Principles’ at the University of Warsaw, co-organised by the Centre for Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, the Irena & Jerzy Wiszniewski Foundation, and the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Law Studies.

Many congratulations, Klaudia!

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Fabian Ziermann awarded PhD

ComplawAdmin — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:45:00 +0000

On 23 March 2026, Fabian Ziermann successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled ‘Player Copyrights and Antitrust Ecosystems in eSports and Gaming’ and was awarded the doctorate in law by WU Vienna. His doctoral committee consisted of Vicky Robertson (WU Vienna, CLH), Andrew Murray (LSE) and Martin Winner (WU Vienna). Fabian’s doctoral thesis explores the relevance of player copyrights and how competition law can be a basis to protect players’ continued access to eSports and other video games. Fabian conducted his research supported by a DOC grant of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

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The Legality of Dawn Raids

ComplawAdmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 06:37:46 +0000

On 15 October 2025, the General Court handed down its judgment in Red Bull v Commission, deciding on whether to uphold the Commission’s 2023 decision to carry out an on-site inspection at the energy drink producer. Commenting on the case for Courthouse News, Vicky Robertson highlighted that there have been an increasing number of challenges to Commission decisions initiating dawn raids in recent times, perhaps due to a successful appeal in 2023. In this case, however, the General Court fully upheld the Commission decision, finding that the competition authority had relied on sufficient evidence to warrant an inspection. The Court also emphasised that the surprise element was an important aspect of dawn raids, which could be jeopardised if the authority were to make requests for information or conduct interviews before carrying out a dawn raid. You can access the case reporting here and the General Court’s judgment here.

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ICN NGA for DG COMP in 2025/26

ComplawAdmin — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 06:36:21 +0000

For the second year running, Vicky Robertson was selected as a Non-Governmental Advisor (NGA) to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) in the International Competition Network (ICN) for the ICN year 2025/26. She will support DG COMP’s work in this international forum by contributing her expertise in digital markets, merger control and antitrust market ... Read more

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Big Tech, Democracy & the Economy

ComplawAdmin — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 06:47:48 +0000

A recent episode of Ö1 Journal-Panorama, a news show on Austrian national radio, took a deep dive into how Big Tech influences the economy and democracy. The episode was created by journalist Robert Uitz-Dallinger, with contributions by Vicky Robertson and Martin Andree. It is available as a podcast here.

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Big Tech in Europe

ComplawAdmin — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 06:54:04 +0000

In an interview with Austrian newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten, Vicky Robertson discussed the market power of Big Tech companies in Europe, and what competition law enforcement may look like under the current US administration. You can access the interview here.

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Research Sabbatical

ComplawAdmin — Sat, 01 Mar 2025 09:07:44 +0000

From March 2025 to February 2026, Vicky Robertson will be on research leave as a guest researcher at the Law Faculty of the Université de Montréal, the Centre pour l’étude de la Citoyenneté démocratique (CÉCD) and the Centre de recherche sur la régulation et le droit de la gouvernance (CrRDG) of the Université de Sherbrooke. This research sabbatical was made possible through a grant by WU Vienna and the Vienna Science and Technology Fund (WWTF).

During her sabbatical, Vicky will engage in research on the intersection of competition law, digital markets and democracy. Stay tuned!

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Fine for Gun-Jumping

ComplawAdmin — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 08:07:14 +0000

Following the Austrian Supreme Court’s ruling to impose a fine of € 70 million on supermarket chain Rewe for gun-jumping, Vicky Robertson discussed the significance of this ruling with Austrian newspapers Der Standard and Salzburger Nachrichten, arguing that this ruling will have repercussions also for antitrust fines in anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominance cases.

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Highest Ever Antitrust Fine in Austria

ComplawAdmin — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 07:48:00 +0000

The Austrian Supreme Court recently imposed the highest ever antitrust fine in Austrian proceedings: supermarket giant Rewe was fined € 70 million for gun-jumping. In an interview with the Austrian national morning news Ö1, Vicky Robertson discussed the significance of this ruling – and why merger notifications are important to protect competition in already concentrated markets. You can listen to the interview here.

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