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Economic operators active in the emerging European data space are currently struggling with two major hurdles: (i) the lack of legal certainty regarding the boundaries of lawfulness of data sharing practices under European competition law; (ii) the lack of coherence of the European competition framework with other European Union regulatory branches. This contribution addresses identified concerns, enquiring the relevance of data sharing agreements as research and development collaborations under art. 101 TFEU. The study considers the Commission's Guidelines on horizontal cooperation in the light of the proposed Data Governance Act and the Digital Service Package. It identifies some criteria relevant for assessing the lawfulness of data sharing agreements under art. 101(1). These criteria encompass subjective (type of undertakings involves); objective (type of data shared); structural (degree of openness) and teleological features (public interest or commercial-oriented research) of data sharing arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents key developments in Polish antitrust legislation and jurisprudence of 2011. Its legislative part focuses on the renewal of Polish Group Exemption Regulations for vertical agreements, specialization and R&D agreements as well as cooperation agreements in the insurance sector. Noted is also the sole amendment of the Competition Act introduced in 2011 which concerns the financial liability of the Polish competition authority. The article covers also the new Guidelines of the UOKiK President on the criteria and procedures of merger notifications. Presented in its jurisprudential part is a number of 2011 rulings, mainly those rendered by the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, divided according to their subject matter with respect to particular types of restrictive practices and other problems related to the decision-making process of the UOKiK President.