(1) Section 29 shall no longer be applied after 31 December 2027.
(2) Award proceedings which were initiated before 18 April 2016, including ensuing review proceedings, and review proceedings pending on 18 April 2016 shall be terminated in accordance with the rules applicable at the time the proceedings were initiated.
(3) With the exception of Section 33c(5), Sections 33a to 33f shall be applicable solely to claims for damages that have arisen after 26 December 2016. Section 33h shall be applicable to claims pursuant to Section 33a(1) or Section 33a(1) which have arisen after 26 December 2016 as well as to claims for injunction, removal and damages which have arisen before 27 December 2016 on account of a violation of a provision within the meaning of Section 33(1) or a decision of the competition authority and which were not statute-barred on 9 June 2017. For the period until 8 June 2017, the start, suspension, suspension of expiry and recommencement of the limitation period of claims that have arisen before 27 December 2016 shall, however, be determined by the respective provisions on limitation previously applicable to such claims.
(4) Section 33c(5) and Sections 33g and 89b to 89e shall be applicable only in legal actions filed after 26 December 2016 irrespective of the time at which such claims for damages arose.
(5) Section 81a shall be applicable where the legal person or association of persons liable pursuant to Section 30 of the German Administrative Offences Act ceases to exist or assets are transferred after 9 June 2017. If the offence was not terminated on this date, the provisions of Section 81(3a) to (3e) shall take precedence.
(6) Section 30(2b) shall apply only to agreements which have taken effect after 9 June 2017 and before 31 December 2027.
(7) For a concentration that was notified to the Bundeskartellamt pursuant to Section 39 between 1 March 2020 and the end of the day on 31 May 2020 the time limit pursuant to Section 40(1) sentence 1 shall be two months and the time limit pursuant to Section 40(2) sentence 2 shall be six months. Sentence 1 shall also apply in the case under Section 40(5). Sentences 1 and 2 shall not apply if on 29 May 2020
1. the time limit pursuant to Section 40(1) sentence 1 had elapsed without the Bundeskartellamt having informed the notifying undertakings that it initiated an examination of the concentration (second phase proceedings),
2. the time limit pursuant to Section 40(2) sentence 2 had elapsed, or
3. the concentration had been cleared by the Bundeskartellamt.
(8) Section 81f sentence 1 shall not be applicable until the end of the day on 30 June 2021 to the extent that easier means of payment pursuant to Section 18 or Section 93 of the German Administrative Offences Act have been granted for the payment of a fine.
(9) Sections 35 to 41 shall not be applicable to any concentration in the hospital sector to the extent that
1. the concentration concerns the merger of several hospitals or individual specialised areas of several hospitals across locations,
2. the concentration does not conflict with other provisions of competition law and the Land has confirmed this at the time the application is filed pursuant to Section 14(2) no 3a) of the German Regulation on Structural Funds for Hospitals [Krankenhausstrukturfonds-Verordnung],
3. it has been established by way of a payment notice pursuant to Section 15 of the German Regulation on Structural Funds for Hospitals that the other requirements for support pursuant to Section 12a(1) sentence 4 of the German Hospital Financing Act [Krankenhausfinanzierungsgesetz] in conjunction with Section 11(1) no 2 of the German Regulation of Structural Funds for Hospitals have been met and
4. the concentration will be implemented by 31 December 2027.
Any concentration within the meaning of sentence 1 shall be notified to the Bundeskartellamt after it has been implemented. In order to evaluate this provision, Sections 32e and 21(3) sentence 8 of the German Hospital Fees Act [Krankenhausentgeltgesetz] shall apply mutatis mutandis. For the purposes of this evaluation and in order to examine the effects of this provision on the conditions of competition and the quality of care, data from official hospital statistics may be merged.
(10) The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is authorised to determine, by way of a statutory instrument not requiring the approval of the Bundesrat, with a view to the agreement on the cooperation and coordination of the competition authorities concluded between the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of the Swiss Confederation that
1. information may be used exclusively in proceedings under competition law and subsequent appeal proceedings and only for the purposes for which it was shared by the Swiss competition authority and
2. an obligation to maintain confidentiality and rule out disclosure towards other public authorities and third parties has to be observed
insofar as the obligations assumed by and the rights granted to the Federal Republic of Germany remain in the permissible range of cooperation between authorities pursuant to Sections 50a to 50f. Stipulations of a statutory instrument pursuant to sentence 1 shall not be applicable before the day on which the agreement specified in sentence 1 becomes effective. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action shall communicate in the Federal Law Gazette the day, designation and reference to the relevant official publication of the agreement on the cooperation and coordination of the competition authorities concluded between the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research of the Swiss Confederation.
(11) The Bundeskartellamt may also issue a decision pursuant to Section 32f(2) on the basis of a sector inquiry pursuant to Section 32e which was already concluded on 7 November 2023 if at that time the final report pursuant to Section 32e(4) was published less than one year ago. In the cases specified in sentence 1, Section 32f(7) shall apply with the proviso that the period begins to run on 7 November 2023.