Question
Please I need some Case Law in the answers. Many thanks. Generality A/S (Generality) is a large Danish company that is a wholesale distributor of
Please I need some Case Law in the answers. Many thanks.
Generality A/S (Generality) is a large Danish company that is a wholesale distributor of a wide range of products and services. Its business includes social networking services that allow classified ads and it also develops and manufactures online games. It has its headquarters in Gronehaven Kronborg (Elsinore). It has subsidiaries in many Member States of the European Union, but not in any of the Baltic states or Sweden.
Generality wants to sell a range of its online games to retail shops in Latvia. In order to break into the local market Generality wants to contractually require a group of Latvian supermarkets, based in rural areas of Latvia, to sell the games in its stores at introductory discounts of 40% below their recommended retail price. Generality is also funding an advertising campaign on television in Latvia to promote the games. Latvia has national laws which prevent suppliers offering discounts of more than 25% to supermarkets as well as national laws which prevent the advertising of games that contain violence on television between 08:00 and 22:00 hours. The respective purposes of the legislation are to ensure that consumers in rural areas can purchase a wide range of products at fair prices and to prevent young children from being attracted into asking their carers to buy computer games for them. There are very few supermarkets in rural areas of Latvia.
Advise Generality on whether it can use European Union law to challenge the Latvian legislation.
Hans (a Canadian national) is a director of Generality. Whilst living in Groenhaven he met Ophelia (a Swedish national from Gothenburg). Gothenburg is a short distance across the water from Groenhaven. Hans and Ophelia had a daughter, Gertrude, born in Sweden. Gertrude has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). The family has lived together in Groenhaven for 2 years. Whilst they were in Sweden on holiday Ophelia drowned in tragic circumstances. Gertrude is currently only 2 years old. Hans decided it would be better to raise Gertrude in Gothenburg because it has very good schools which would accommodate Gertrude's needs. Ophelia's brother and his partner, Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, offered to look after Gertrude at their home in Gothenburg while Hans organised his shift from Groenhaven to Gothenberg. When Hans tried to buy a house in Gothenburg, Hans discovered that local laws prevented him from doing so (as a third country national) and that the Swedish Migrationsverket (Immigration Agency) would only give leave to Hans and Gertrude to remain in Sweden for 6 months as Hans had no address of abode in Sweden.
Advise Hans on the legality under European Union law of the Swedish Immigration Agency decision.
Weka Ireland Ltd ('Weka') and its parent holding company Weka Inc, a Delaware registered corporation, is a social networking service which allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and videos, send messages and connect with other people. Weka also offers an online classified ads service trading as 'Weka Bazar'. Weka Bazar has 46% of the online classified ad market in the European Union and Generality has 36% of that market. Weka Bazar hosts an online platform for Weka users where they can buy and sell goods with each other.
Generality also, along with another group of European companies ('neighbouring companies'), places classified ads on another on-line platform, which competes with Weka Bazar. The neighbouring companies believe that Weka's social networks and online advertising allow Weka to harm competition in these markets, as it is where Weka is also active with its own online classified ads. These neighbouring companies in particular fear that, when they advertise in Weka Bazar's classified ads, they may be providing Weka with commercially valuable data. In particular, the neighbouring companies believe that Weka might then use this data in order to compete against them with the effect of distorting competition in the online classified ads market. Weka could, for instance, receive precise information on users' preferences from its competitors' advertising activities and use such data in order to adapt Weka Bazar to Weka's competitive advantage.
Advise the neighbouring companies whether Weka is in breach of European Union competition rules on anticompetitive agreements between companies and/or on the abuse of a dominant position.
Generality also builds and sells laptops and tablets in several Member States of the European Union. During a recent golf competition, the directors of Generality and Weka informally discussed the possibility of not selling at a price that was cheaper than each other when supplying their respective laptops and tablets to any European purchasers. However, the discussions never led to any formal agreement being made between the parties. Over the past 12 months the prices charged, by both Generality and Weka, for their laptops and tablets, have risen and fallen in line with each other.
Advise Generality if it risks breaching European Union competition law in its behaviour.
Generality has a supplier of its games software in Lithuania: Baltnetgames UAB (a Lithuanian registered company). In order to source the best prices, Baltnetgames also buys games software from other sources and shops around. Generality has said that if Baltnetgames does not buy all of its games software from Generality, it will not supply Baltnetgames with any software. Baltnetgames has ascertained that no other buyer is treated in this way by Generality. The games software can be played on a range of laptops and tablets from different manufacturers and Baltnetgames has a range of these laptops and tablets for sale in its shops. Generality has also said that it will not supply Baltnetgames unless it only stocks and sells Generality's laptops and tablets.
Advise Weka if its actions are in breach of European Union competition law.
Hans (a director of Generality) has been told by a friend at his golf club that the way his company is conducting its business is in breach of European Union competition law and that Generality could be exposed to the European Commission imposing enormous fines on Generality. Hans is concerned any such fines might bankrupt Generality.
Advise Hans and Generality if they can utilise any mitigating measure that might result in the European Commission not being so harsh.
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