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☆ Russia's nuclear rhetoric is dangerous and irresponsible, NATO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, March 26 (Reuters) - NATO on Sunday criticised Russia for its "dangerous and irresponsible" nuclear rhetoric, a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. "NATO is vigilant, and we are closely monitoring the situation. We have not seen any changes in Russia's nuclear posture that would lead us to adjust our own," a NATO spokesperson said. "Russia's reference to NATO's nuclear sharing is totally misleading. Russia has consistently broken its arms control commitments, most recently suspending its participation in the New START Treaty."

French cloud computing services provider and complainant OVHcloud (OVH.PA) is also waiting for a more concrete proposal from Microsoft, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. Resolving the complaints with the companies could help Microsoft stave off a possible EU antitrust investigation that could lead to a fine as much as 10% of its global turnover. The complaints by OVHcloud, Italian cloud service provider Aruba and a Danish association of cloud service providers focused on Microsoft's cloud practices and licensing deals. "We are grateful for the productive conversations that led us there and appreciate the feedback that we have received since," a Microsoft spokesperson said. Cispe's members include cloud computing market leader Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O).

☆ Meta says a network fee is not the fix for European telecoms firms' financial problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC), Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) and other operators have lobbied for two decades for U.S. tech giants to contribute to 5G and broadband roll-out. "We recognise the financial challenges that European telecom operators now face after decades of strong performance," Kevin Salvadori, Meta's vice president for network and Bruno Cendon Martin, its director and head of reality labs wireless, wrote in a blog post. "However, proposals by some European telecom operators to impose network fees on Content Application Providers (CAPs) such as Meta are not the solution," they said. It dismissed telecoms providers' arguments that the expansion of the metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the internet, would strain infrastructure capacity. The development of the metaverse will not require telecom operators to grow capital expenditures for greater network investment," Salvadori and Martin said.

☆ Exclusive: Google to win EU antitrust okay for maths app deal, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 22 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google is set to gain unconditional EU antitrust clearance for its acquisition of Croatian maths app Photomath, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Investors in the Croatian company include Menlo Ventures, LearnCapital, Goodwater Capital, GSV Ventures and Cherubic. The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by March 28, and Google declined to comment. The app has been downloaded more than 300 million times worldwide and is available in more than 30 languages. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by David Goodman, Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BRUSSELS, March 21 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have raided a company active in the energy drinks sector in several EU countries on suspicion of taking part in a cartel and also abusing its dominance, the European Commission said on Tuesday. Austrian energy drinks maker Red Bull confirmed that its premises had been searched, the Austrian news agency APA reported, although the company declined further comment when contacted by Reuters. "The Commission has concerns that the inspected company may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," the EU enforcer said in a statement. "The inspected company may also have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit abuses of a dominant position." Companies found breaching EU antitrust rules face fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover.

☆ EU competition chief flags fresh probes into multinationals' tax deals
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - EU regulators are likely to open investigations into tax deals between EU countries and multinationals after reviewing their arrangements in the previous decade, the bloc's competition chief warned on Monday. European Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, who has ordered Apple (AAPL.O) to pay 13 billion euros in back taxes in Ireland and Amazon (AMZN.O) 250 million euros to Luxembourg, among a dozen cases, has said such tax deals amount to illegal tax breaks. Despite her crackdown, Vestager said aggressive tax planning "is still with us". She did, however, get the court's backing for her order to Engie to pay back taxes of 120 million euros to Luxembourg. And Belgium, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have all changed their tax practices in response to her tax crusade.

☆ Microsoft's EU remedies target only cloud streaming rivals, sources says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) remedies to address European Union antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O) focus only on cloud gaming services, with no mention of rival Sony (6758.T), people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The U.S. software giant has been trying to allay the Commission's concerns that the deal may reduce competition for console and personal computers, PC operating systems and cloud game streaming services. However, the absence of a Sony solution suggests the Commission no longer has concerns about competition in the console market. The sources said Microsoft has offered 10-year licensing deals for cloud gaming services, citing Nvidia, Ukraine-based cloud gaming provider Boosteroid and Japan's Ubitus as examples. Microsoft's EU offer is narrower than that to the UK competition agency, which includes licensing deals to cloud gaming services and a 10-year deal with parity on content and quality for Activision's Call of Duty franchise to critic and PlayStation owner Sony.

☆ Microsoft offers EU remedies seeking OK on Activision deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 17 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has offered remedies in an attempt to gain EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O), a European Commission filing showed on Friday. The EU competition enforcer, which did not provide details in line with its policy, will now seek feedback from rivals and customers before making its decision by May 22. Microsoft President Brad Smith has said the U.S. software company was prepared to offer rivals licensing deals to ease competition concerns but not to selling Activision's lucrative "Call of Duty" franchise. The company has in recent weeks signed agreements with three companies to bring "Call of Duty" to their platforms. "We are now backing up that promise with binding commitments to the European Commission, which will ensure that this deal benefits gamers into the future."

☆ Top EU judge expects a wave of litigation from tech giants against new tech law
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Andrew KellyBRUSSELS, March 17 (Reuters) - Tech giants will likely challenge a new European Union law aimed at reining in their power with the first cases in a potential wave of litigation expected by year-end, one of the EU's top judges said on Friday. Those disagreeing with the label and requirements are likely to take their complaint to the Luxembourg-based General Court within months, its president Marc van der Woude said. But van der Woude said the DMA was still evolving. He said areas of dispute will likely focus on the gatekeeper designation, specifications of their obligations and during enforcement of the DMA. A contentious area is likely to be the requirement on gatekeepers to notify their acquisitions to the Commission and whether such deals meet the threshold for regulatory scrutiny, van der Woude said.

☆ American Airlines loses fight over Delta airport slots
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LUXEMBOURG, March 16 (Reuters) - American Airlines (AAL.O), which gave up rights to two airport slots to Delta Air Lines' (DAL.N) in 2013, on Thursday lost a court appeal to have the European Union cancel them for lack of use. American gave up the takeoff and landing rights at Heathrow and Philadelphia airports to get antitrust approval for its merger with US Airway. The European Commission picked Delta to take up the slots. The EU Court of Justice (CJEU), Europe's highest, dismissed American's arguments that Delta did not fulfil its obligation to use the slots regularly. American complained that Delta had not made appropriate use of the slots as required under grandfather rights, prompting the EU competition watchdog to issue a decision in 2018 backing its rival.

☆ Microsoft signs Japanese licensing agreement amid Activision deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 15 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) signed a 10-year licensing deal to bring Activision's (ATVI.O) Call of Duty franchise to Japanese cloud gaming provider Ubitus on Wednesday, the latest move by the company to address regulatory worries about its bid for the games maker. While Xbox maker Microsoft is likely to secure EU antitrust approval for acquiring Activision with such licensing deals and other behavioural remedies, it is facing headwinds in the United States and Britain. "Microsoft and Ubitus, a leading cloud gaming provider, have signed a 10-year partnership to stream Xbox PC Games as well as Activision Blizzard titles after the acquisition closes," the chief executive of Microsoft's gaming division, Phil Spencer, said in a tweet. The company agreed a similar deal with cloud gaming provider Boosteroid a day earlier, on top of agreements with Nvidia (NVDA.O), Nintendo (7974.T) and U.S. distributor Valve Corp, owner of the world's largest video game distribution platform, Steam. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Microsoft inks licensing deal with cloud gaming provider Boosteroid
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O) on Tuesday signed a 10-year licensing deal to bring Activision's (ATVI.O) Call of Duty franchise to cloud gaming provider Boosteroid's platform, a move partly aimed at allaying competition concerns over its Activision acquisition. Ukraine-based Boosteroid's access to Call of Duty is conditional on regulatory approval for the Activision deal. The agreement will also bring Microsoft's Xbox PC games to Boosteroid's cloud gaming platform. That's why Xbox is committed to give everyone more ways to play their favorite games, across devices," said Phil Spencer, chief executive of Microsoft's gaming division. EU antitrust regulators are expected to approve Microsoft's takeover of Activision conditional on such licensing deals, people familiar with the matter have told Reuters.

☆ Qualcomm spars with EU antitrust regulators over Huawei, ZTE rebates
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LUXEMBOURG, March 14 (Reuters) - Qualcomm (QCOM.O) on Tuesday criticised European Union antitrust regulators over their definition of rebates given to Chinese phone makers Huawei and ZTE in the second day of a court hearing aimed at overturning a 242-million-euro ($259 million) fine. The EU competition enforcer said an analysis of Qualcomm's prices showed it sold some of its chips below cost to Huawei (HWT.UL) and ZTE (000063.SZ), with rebates and discounts driving the final prices down. Had the Commission made those two simple corrections, you would have found no predation," Athina Kontasakou told the court. Martin Farley, a lawyer for the Commission, defended its analysis of Qualcomm's prices as "fundamentally correct and robust". The case is T-671/19 Qualcomm v Commission.

☆ EU watchdog extends deadline on Broadcom-VMware decision to June 21
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have extended their decision on U.S. chipmaker Broadcom's (AVGO.O) proposed $61 billion takeover of cloud computing company VMware (VMW.N) by two weeks to June 21, the European Commission said on Tuesday. The EU competition watchdog said the extension was agreed with Broadcom, which is looking to diversify into enterprise software. The Commission is expected to warn Broadcom about potential anti-competitive effects of the proposed deal in the coming weeks, sources close to the matter have told Reuters. The U.S. and UK antitrust agencies are also investigating the proposed acquisition. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee Editing by David GoodmanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Qualcomm looks to Europe court again to overturn antitrust fine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LUXEMBOURG, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm (QCOM.O) returned to Europe's second-top court on Monday seeking to overturn a 242-million-euro ($258.4 million) EU antitrust fine, a year after it convinced the same court to throw out a much bigger penalty in another antitrust case. Qualcomm lawyer Miguel Rato criticised the Commission's investigations against the company on the first day of the three-day hearing. The first was the exclusivity decision squashed by the Court," he told the General Court. "What price should Qualcomm have charged for each chipset and each quarter to allow it to pass the price cost test?" Qualcomm feared that if it did not take action, Icera would grow to expand and become a formidable rival," he said.

☆ Exclusive: Agrofert to win EU approval to buy Borealis' nitrogen unit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) - Czech group Agrofert is set to win unconditional EU antitrust approval for its purchase of the nitrogen business of Austrian energy group OMV's (OMVV.VI) unit Borealis, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday. Borealis in June last year announced the deal to sell the business, which includes fertiliser, melamine and technical nitrogen, on the basis of an enterprise value of 810 million euros ($863.5 million). Borealis is 75%-owned by energy group OMV and 25% by Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala. It finalised a turnaround programme in its fertiliser business two years ago. Agrofert has manufacturing facilities in Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and is owned by Czech ex-premier and now opposition leader Andrej Babis.

☆ EU companies can get as much in EU aid as US subsidies under looser rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 9 (Reuters) - EU businesses can get as much government funding as from a U.S. green energy subsidy package, under looser European Commission rules announced on Thursday aimed at keeping them in Europe. The rules mark the EU's latest effort to reduce its dependence on U.S. and Chinese products and technologies. The Commission said matching aid from governments can kick in when there is a real risk of investments being diverted away from Europe. To ensure that the aid will actually encourage a company to remain in Europe, cross-border investments must involve projects in at least three EU countries. The Commission said EU countries have until the end of 2025 to set up renewable energy and energy storage schemes and decarbonisation projects to qualify under the easier funding rules.

BRUSSELS/ZURICH, March 7 (Reuters) - Swiss fragrance and flavour maker Givaudan (GIVN.S) said on Tuesday that it was being investigated by European Union and Swiss antitrust authorities after the EU announced earlier it had raided several companies on concerns of a cartel in the supply of fragrances and fragrance ingredients. "I can confirm that we are part of an industry-wide investigation by European and Swiss authorities. When presented with evidence of wrongdoing, the bloc's rules allow the EU antitrust enforcer to enter company offices, examine and take copies of records related to the business, as well as question staff. The EU competition enforcer said it had been in contact with the U.S. Department of Justice and competition agencies in Britain and Switzerland and that the raids were conducted in consultation with them. Companies face fines as much as 10% of their global turnover for violating EU antitrust rules.

BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms' (META.O) WhatsApp has agreed to be more transparent about changes to its privacy policy introduced in 2021, the European Commission said on Monday, following complaints from consumer bodies across Europe. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and the European Network of consumer authorities told WhatsApp last year that it had not clarified the changes in plain and intelligible language, violating the bloc's laws. WhatsApp has now agreed to explain changes to EU users' contracts and how these could affect their rights, and has agreed to display prominently the possibility for users to accept or reject the changes and ensure that users can easily close pop-up notifications on updates. The company also confirmed that users' personal data is not shared with third parties or other Meta companies, including Facebook, for advertising purposes. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Charlotte Van Campenhout in Amsterdam; Editing by Susan FentonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tech-sponsored study criticises plan to exclude non-EU cloud vendors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] 3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the Google Cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationBRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) - A proposed European Union cloud security label that could exclude Amazon (AMZN.O), Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google, Microsoft (MSFT.O) and other non-EU cloud services providers from the bloc is discriminatory and could lead to retaliatory measures, a study commissioned by a tech lobbying group said. At issue is a provision in EU cybersecurity agency ENISA's certification scheme (EUCS) that requires cloud services providers to have their registered head office and global headquarters in the EU and to operate cloud services and store and process customer data in the 27-member bloc. "Member states should now call on the cybersecurity agency and also the European Commission to abandon politically motivated EUCS immunity requirements," he added. A ban could also trigger retaliatory measures by EU trading partners, the think tank said.

☆ Exclusive: Microsoft set to win EU nod on Activision with licensing offer, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) is expected to secure EU antitrust approval for its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O) with its offer of licensing deals to rivals, three people familiar with the matter said, helping it to clear a major hurdle. In addition to the licensing deals for rivals, Microsoft may also have to offer other behavioural remedies to allay concerns of other parties than Sony, one of the people said. Activision shares, which jumped 1.8% in pre-market trading after the Reuters' story was published, were up 2.6% in late trade. Microsoft President Brad Smith last month said the U.S. software group was ready to offer rivals licensing deals to address antitrust concerns but it would not sell Activision's lucrative "Call of Duty" franchise. Microsoft said it was "committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission's concerns."

☆ Exclusive: Microsoft's licensing offer likely to satisfy EU on Activision, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Microsoft's (MSFT.O) offer of licensing deals to rivals is likely to address EU antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O), three people familiar with the matter said, helping it to clear a major hurdle. The European Commission, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by April 25, is not expected to demand that Microsoft sell assets to win its approval, the people said. Microsoft President Brad Smith last month said the U.S. software group was ready to offer rivals licensing deals to address antitrust concerns but it would not sell Activision's lucrative "Call of Duty" franchise. Microsoft said it was "committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission's concerns." Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Elaine Hardcastle and Jane MerrimanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU's Vestager says scrutiny of competition in metaverse already needed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - The metaverse, shared virtual worlds accessible via the Internet, is the next digital market to attract regulatory scrutiny, EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said on Thursday. "It's already time for us to start asking what healthy competition would look like in the metaverse," Vestager said a conference organised by Keystone Strategy. Vestager asked whether it would change the equation when there are competing digital realities and language AI models like ChatGPT. She said regulatory scrutiny of digital markets has been escalating worldwide in the last three years. "And there's a much wider political debate that digital markets need careful attention.

☆ Exclusive: EU unlikely to demand asset sales in Microsoft, Activision deal, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Reuters) - Microsoft's (MSFT.O) readiness to offer licensing deals to rivals is likely to address EU antitrust concerns over its $69 billion acquisition of Activision (ATVI.O) without the need for asset sales, three people familiar with the matter said. The European Commission is not expected to demand that Microsoft sell assets to win its approval, the people said. Microsoft President Brad Smith last month said the U.S. software giant was ready to offer rivals licensing deals to address antitrust concerns but it would not sell Activision's lucrative "Call of Duty" franchise. Microsoft said it was "committed to offering effective and easily enforceable solutions that address the European Commission's concerns". Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ EU regulators extend deadline for Microsoft, Activision deal to April 25
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, March 1 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have extended their deadline for a decision on Microsoft's (MSFT.O) $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision (ATVI.O) to April 25, according to a European Commission filing on Wednesday. The Xbox maker announced the Activision Blizzard deal in January last year to help it compete better with leaders Tencent (0700.HK) and Sony (6758.T) but has encountered regulatory hurdles in Europe, Britain and the United States. It is expected to offer remedies to the EU competition enforcer soon. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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