Insights

On October 16, 2025, the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented their Defense Readiness Roadmap 2030 to the EU Member States. This comprehensive plan aims to strengthen European defense capabilities. It follows, and should be read together with, the Commission’s Defense Readiness Omnibus that was published in June 2025. The Omnibus contains a set of proposals to facilitate defense investments and boost EU Member States’ responsiveness to today’s security challenges.

In June 2025, the European Commission adopted its first-ever measures under the International Procurement Instrument Regulation (IPI), restricting access to the EU public procurement market for medical devices for economic operators and medical devices from the People’s Republic of China. This is the first application of the IPI, a new trade instrument aimed at tackling lack of reciprocity in access to public procurement in third countries.

Just over a year ago, the notification obligations under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) became applicable. Since then, M&A transactions and bids for government contracts above certain thresholds must be notified to the European Commission. Pending the Commission’s review, the transaction cannot be completed, or the contract cannot be awarded. What lessons can be learned from the application of the FSR to date? Has the FSR proved to be an effective tool in leveling the playing field, or has its main effect been to burden companies with red tape, at the risk of discouraging investment in Europe?

On July 2, 2024, the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) found that three security companies, Seris, G4S and Securitas, had participated in serious cartel practices within the private security services sector from 2008 to 2020. The practices consisted of price-fixing, bid rigging, and no poach agreements. This decision is important for two reasons: because the fines imposed by the BCA amount to a substantial EUR 47 million and because this is the first time that the BCA has fined companies for a no poach arrangement.

As from October 2023, companies receiving financial contributions from third countries will have to report these to the European Commission when engaging in M&A transactions or bidding for public contracts above certain thresholds. This alert guides you through the new notification obligations under the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR): first, we situate these obligations within the overall set-up of the FSR; then we go into the detail of the notification obligations themselves; before concluding with practical advice on how to meet these new obligations.

Last year, the European Union (EU) legislature adopted a far-reaching regulation aimed at tackling the distortive effects on EU markets of financial support provided by non-EU countries to undertakings active in the EU (Foreign Subsidies Regulation or FSR). However, the FSR left many procedural details to be hammered out by the European Commission (EC) in an Implementing Regulation, to be adopted before the FSR itself starts to apply in July 2023. On 6 February 2023, the EC launched a much-anticipated public consultation regarding its draft Implementing Regulation, including two annexes containing notification forms for concentrations and public procurements. Stakeholders have until 6 March 2023 to submit comments.

As we wrote in an earlier client alert, the European Commission proposed the FSR in May 2021 to close a regulatory gap and level the playing field between undertakings receiving subsidies from EU Member States, which are subject to strict state aid rules, and recipients of third-country subsidies, which so far escaped scrutiny. The proposal followed a public consultation on the European Commission’s June 2020 White Paper on Foreign Subsidies.

Businesses distributing goods and services in the EU rely on the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) for legal certainty. The VBER and the accompanying guidelines set out the conditions under which distribution agreements are presumed to comply with EU competition law. The current VBER is set to expire on May 31, 2022. Over the past few years, the Commission has been working with stakeholders to assess, update and amend the existing rules to take account of market developments, including the emergence of online platforms and e-commerce (see also our Client Alert of October 26, 2020). The most important changes proposed by the Commission can be summarized as follows:

In the coming weeks or months, the European Commission is expected to table an ambitious set of draft legislation that, if adopted, will have a major impact on the business practices of digital service providers in the EU, including non-EU companies serving European users: the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The Commission’s legislative proposals aim to strengthen the responsibilities of online platforms and to support fair competition in digital markets.

On October 23, 2020, the European Commission published its impact assessment providing its plans for the reform of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and Vertical Guidelines. A number of impactful changes to the current rules are envisaged in relation to dual distribution, active sales restrictions, online sales restrictions, and Most Favored Nation clauses (MFNs). Moreover, the Commission will provide additional guidance on the circumstances in which Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) and non-compete obligations are permitted.

On March 25, 2020, Crowell & Moring Brussels launched a new virtual tool, the “Belgian COVID-19 Legal Assistant,” to help businesses navigate the growing number of Belgian government regulations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 23, the European Competition Network (ECN) issued a joint statement on the application of competition law during the coronavirus crisis. The ECN understands that this extraordinary situation may trigger the need for companies to cooperate in order to ensure the supply and fair distribution of scarce products to all consumers. In the current circumstances, the ECN will not actively intervene against necessary and temporary measures put in place in order to avoid a shortage of supply.