EU Law and Practice Contributed by: Andrzej Kmiecik, Richard Burton and Catherine Gordley, Van Bael & Bellis
(eg, joint ventures, acquisitions of businesses). Such conduct has been the subject of increased scrutiny in recent years, with a number of mem - ber states having already conducted investiga - tions and the European Commission adopting its first decision covering no-poach arrangements in June 2025 ( Delivery Hero/Glovo ), in which it imposed EUR329 million in fines. 7.7 Leniency v Ex Officio Investigations After a long period where the Commission reported receiving fewer leniency applications and starting more investigations on an ex offi - cio basis (on the basis of complaints, tip-off or general market monitoring), the Commission has more recently indicated that it has seen a renewed pick-up in the number of leniency applications received. At present, it is reported that the proportion of the Commission’s open case portfolio is evenly balanced between leni - ency and ex officio cases, respectively. 7.8 Domestic v International Investigations The European Commission’s cartel enforcement activity tends to focus on cases that are at least EU-wide in scope. Many of these cases involve
a cross-border element linking it to jurisdictions outside the EU, and involve co-ordination with non-EU competition authorities. By contrast, cases that involve domestic cartels – in par - ticular, member states – are generally dealt with by national competition authorities. While the make-up of the Commission’s case portfolio is not expected to substantially change, it will likely evolve in line with developments in the European and broader global economy. 7.9 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Cartels At EU level, there are various environmental tar - gets that companies must meet in their business and investment activities, in particular as part of the European Green Deal package. The Euro - pean Commission has provided guidance in its Horizontal Guidelines on communications and agreements between competitors intended to meet sustainability standards or otherwise con - tribute to sustainable development objectives. 7.10 Crisis Cartels There are no indications that current market con - ditions in the EU are particularly conducive to cartel behaviour.
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