It seems that with its June decision in T-Mobile Netherlands BV v. Raad van bestuur van der Nederlands Mededingingsautoriteit, the European Court of Justice is sending a message: Don’t even talk about it. The court ruled that a “concerted” anti-competitive practice can result from the exchange of a single piece of information at a single meeting between competitors.
The decision has broad implications for any contact between competitors and for the exchange of information in trade associations; moreover, in arriving at its conclusion the ECJ enunciated several corollary rules that lower the threshold for proving an antitrust violation under European Union law.
