Bundeskartellamt pre-publishes official translation of the text of the 9th Amendment to the German Competition Act

Almost exactly one year after the 9th Amendment to the German Competition Act (GWB) came into force on 9 June 2017, the German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) has now pre-published the official translation of the legal text into English on its website; the official publication by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection is still pending but to be expected shortly.

The 9th amendment brought significant changes to the German Competition Act (GWB), which are of particular interest to international players: inter alia, new criteria were introduced to establish a dominant position, the merger control obligation for the acquisition of innovative companies with low turnover but high potential for competition was extended and a group liability for fines as well as an extended succession liability were established.

Approximately one year after the entry into force of the amendments, an official English version of the current German antitrust statute is now available, which is highly welcome in view of the international implications of German antitrust law.

The pre-publication can be found on the website of the Bundeskartellamt.