by Veronica Pinotti and Martino Sforza.
The main developments in antitrust are:
1. Merger Control (Art. 5-bis)
From January 1, 2013:
- The Italian merger control thresholds will be cumulative and no longer alternative (i.e. the combined turnover in Italy of all undertakings concerned exceeds € 468 million AND the Italian turnover of the target exceeds € 47 million);
- The current mandatory merger control filing fee (i.e. 1.2 percent of the value of the transaction in a range of € 3,000 and € 60,000) will be replaced by a mandatory fee of 0.08 per thousand of the turnover applicable (regardless of a transaction being filed) to all companies having a turnover exceeding € 50 million (such contribution shall be paid by October 30, 2012 for the first year, and July 31, 2013 for the following years).
2. New Bodies
- Business Courts (Art. 2) – by September 24, 2012, the IP specialized sections of Italy’s Tribunals and Appeal Courts (renamed “business specialized sections”) will have jurisdiction also over all claims for damages caused by national and EU antitrust infringements, as well as corporate and public procurement matters involving limited companies.
- Transport Authority (Art. 36) – it will be created within May 31, 2012 and will have supervising powers on the transport sector and the access to relevant infrastructures (it will be fully operative following the adoption of its implementing decrees).
3. Main New Powers of the Authority
- Unfair clauses (Art. 5) – since March 24, 2012, the Authority is responsible to ensure protection against unfair contractual clauses in business to consumer agreements and it may impose fines up to € 50,000.
- Unfair commercial practices (Art. 7) – since March 24, 2012, extension of the Authority’s powers in the enforcement of the unfair commercial practices rules to protect, not only consumers, but also small enterprises (with less than 10 employees and a turnover of less than € 2 million).
- Food sector (Art. 62) – from October 25, 2012, the Authority will have the power to supervise and may apply fines up to € 500,000, in case of breach of the new rules concerning agreements in the food sector (i.e. written form and other specific requirements; obligation to pay within 30 days for perishable goods and within 60 days for all other goods).
- Public Utilities (Art. 25) – since March 24, 2012, the Authority shall now be consulted in various fields, including the public utilities local award procedures (where the population is above 10,000 inhabitants).
4. Banks and Insurance
- Banks (Art. 28) – from July 1,2012, banks shall propose to their customers the offers of at least two different insurance groups, if they require a life insurance as a condition to issue a mortgage.
- Insurance (Art. 34) – no later than July 24, 2012, car insurance intermediaries will be required to inform their customers about the contractual conditions proposed by at least three different insurance groups.
5. Class Action (Art. 6)
Amendments to the current rules (entered into force since March 24, 2012):
- It is possible to start a class action to protect collective interests (in addition to individual homogeneous consumer rights);
- The requirement for the "identity" of situations is replaced by their "homogeneity";
- The judge may assign a 90 day term to reach an agreement on the damage award.
