Merry Christmas, WhatsApp users

23/12/16

2016 is coming to an end and will leave a wealth of more or less fond memories among the antitrust community. To quote Bob Dylan’s friend Mick, we should take care of these, for we cannot relive them. Mind you, that is not necessarily a bad thing in our trade.

Be that as it may, which 2016 memory would we cherish if we were characters in some antitrust remake of Wandafuru Raifu? Why, probably the statement of objections that the European Commission sent Facebook three days ago. The Commission approved the WhatsApp takeover in 2014, ignoring massive objections raised all over town i.a. by ETNO, no less. Now, it claims to have received ‘incorrect or misleading information’ at the time. We dare say that the Commission was probably the only party actually misled. As it arguably was by the Google/DoubleClick deal six years earlier, cleared ignoring a razor-sharp dissenting statement at the FTC.

We will have to wait and see what the Commission makes of any information it gathers now, for instance in relation to Article 102 TFEU. Right now it has merely bent over backwards to emphasise just how unrelated this new investigation is to its 2014 merger clearance decision.

In the meantime… let us wish everyone a merry Christmas, a happy New Year and private chats all along.