Over the course of the Commission’s 2024-2029 mandate, we will be working towards a new approach to competition policy – one that is more supportive of companies scaling up in global markets, and one that allows European businesses and consumers to reap all the benefits of effective competition. Competition policy should be better geared to our common goals, including decarbonisation and a just transition. Our aim is to ensure a level playing field, and to ensure that business has the incentive to invest, innovate and grow. We will also continue to protect consumers from rising prices and lowering quality of goods and services.
Competition policy should also reflect the growing importance of resilience in the face of geopolitical and other threats to supply chains and of unfair competition through subsidies.
On 26 February 2025, the Commission published the Communication on the Clean Industrial Deal: A joint roadmap for competitiveness and decarbonization, announcing the adoption of a new State aid Framework in the second quarter of 2025.
The CISAF will accompany the Clean Industrial Deal by setting out how Member States can design State aid measures to support its objectives, building on the experience with the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework (‘TCTF') transition provisions.
Once adopted, the CISAF will replace the TCTF. It is intended that the CISAF will be in force until 31 December 2030.
IPCEIs may represent a significant contribution to economic growth, jobs, the green and digital transition and competitiveness for the Union’s industry and economy. IPCEIs make it possible to bring together knowledge, expertise, financial resources, and economic actors throughout the Union and create positive spillover effects to the whole Union.
The EU and its Member States share ambitious policy goals to ease the green and digital transitions and to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness. Achieving these goals requires important investments. The high financial and/or technological risks of such innovative and front-running projects can sometimes be too big for one company or Member State alone, leading to reluctance among investors and financiers. Based on EU State aid rules, the European Commission can approve that Member States give State aid to support an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI).
The Horizontal Merger Guidelines (‘HMG’) and the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines (‘NHMG’), together the ‘Merger Guidelines’, respectively published in 2004 and 2008, provide guidance on the Commission’s practice when assessing the impact of mergers on competition within the legal framework of the EU Merger Regulation.
Since the introduction of both sets of guidelines, there have been several transformational changes in the economy, ranging from digitalisation and globalisation to decarbonisation, which can impact competitive dynamics in many markets. The current review of these guidelines will update the assessment framework for mergers in light of these changes and new market realities, and reflect the case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).