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European Commission finds Apple in breach of the steering prohibition under Article 5(4) DMA

Our partner Silke Heinz has published an article in the December 2025 issue of WuW on the Commission decision finding that Apple violated Art. 5(4) DMA (Steering) in 2025, and imposing a fine of €500 million, one of the first fines ever under the DMA. (See article (paywall) here).
The Commission inter alia rejected Apple’s approach to comply with mandatory DMA obligations by offering business users the “choice” between its old terms & conditions (undisputedly non-compliant with the DMA) and new terms & conditions (which aimed at complying with the DMA). Turns out that the Commission also considered the new terms & conditions as non-compliant. The decision may well contain lessons for other ongoing DMA non-compliance proceedings.

Competition law developments in Germany in 2024

Our partner Silke Heinz has published an overview of the most important competition law developments in Germany in 2024 in a Kluwer Competition Law Blog, including legislative changes for hospital mergers, cases under special rules for digital gatekeepers, abuse of dominance, merger control, the sector inquiry into charging stations for e-vehicles, antitrust (cartels, vertical price fixing and horizontal cooperation) and damages litigation.

You find the blogpost here.

Recognition of Excellence: Silke Heinz and Roman Zagrosek Featured in the Lexology Index

We are proud to announce that both of our partners, Silke Heinz and Roman Zagrosek, have been recognized in the prestigious Lexology Index for their outstanding expertise in competition law.

  • Silke Heinz has been named a Thought Leader – Competition and Thought Leader – Germany, and Germany – Competition for her exceptional contributions in EU and German competition law (see here).
  • Roman Zagrosek has been ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader in the category of Competition Under 45 and Germany – Competition (see here).

This recognition highlights their unwavering dedication and expertise, reaffirming our firm’s commitment to delivering top-tier legal services.

Heinz & Zagrosek features in ranking of Wirtschaftswoche

We are delighted that business journal Wirtschaftswoche included Heinz & Zagrosek as well as our partners Silke Heinz and Dr. Roman Zagrosek again in the ranking of the most renowned antitrust law firms and lawyers in Germany (the link to the article is here, mentioned on p. 2 of the table).