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Antitrust authorities make use of settlement and commitments as enforcement tools

Signaling a willingness on the part of businesses under investigation and authorities to cooperate, 43% of decisions involved a settlement in 2025, an uptick from 38% in 2024. 50% of the decisions involving a settlement resulted in authorities requiring, or parties committing to, a change in conduct.

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), for example, accepted court enforceable undertakings from suppliers of car technology products, golf equipment, and drones to remove clauses restricting distributors’ ability to advertise products below a specified price. This is a trend that can be seen in Beyond fines, soft enforcement rises, discussing authorities’ willingness to take a light-touch approach to achieving impactful enforcement.

Territorial supply constraints in the EC’s “terrible ten”

The EC published its “Single Market Strategy” in May 2025, in which it designated unjustified territorial supply constraints (TSCs) as one of the “terrible ten” practices most harmful to the functioning of a unified EU market. It considered that, in the retail sector, TSCs limit consumer choice and contribute to significant price differences across the EU, “notably for daily consumer goods.”

Addressing TSCs is a fascinating example of where the EU’s single market objectives align with its antitrust objectives. In September 2025, a number of member states urged the EC to utilize means beyond antitrust law. They suggested, for example, that the EC could use the ongoing revision of the Unfair Trading Practices Directive to identify additional unjustified harmful supply restrictions. A proposal for enforcement tools targeting TSCs is expected in late 2026 – the EC published a call for evidence in early March 2026.

In the meantime, the EC is continuing to apply antitrust law to the issue. In 2024, it fined Mondelēz for hindering the cross-border trade of chocolate, biscuits, and coffee products between EU member states, and Pierre Cardin and its licensee Ahlers for restricting cross-border sales of clothing.

In 2025, while there were no fines for conduct involving territorial restrictions, the EC carried out dawn raids at the premises of companies active in the non-alcoholic drinks sector in several EU member states and asked for information in the personal care sector. The EC stated that it was investigating “possible restrictions on the trade of goods in the Single Market and market segmentation.”