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Competition Policy

Review of the EU Merger Guidelines – Economic Workshop on the Study on the Dynamic Effects of Mergers

Merger_Guidelines_Economic_Workshop

  • Friday 11 September 2026 | 9:00 – 14:00 CET

  • Solvay Brussels School Economics and Management, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. Franklin Roosevelt 42, 1050 Brussels

  • Registrations and agenda

As part of its ongoing review of the Merger Guidelines, the Commission has commissioned an economic study on the dynamic effects of mergers. This study is being prepared by Oxera, in collaboration with Professor Otto Toivanen as Leading Academic Researcher and Professors Yassine Lefouili and Leonardo Madio as Economic Advisors. 

The Commission will publish the study by September 2026 on its website. In this context, a dedicated economic workshop will be organised on 11 September 2026 to present and discuss the results of the study. 

Register for the workshop

Draft agenda

  1. 09:00 – 09.15
    Opening remarks
    • Guillaume Loriot, Deputy Director General for Mergers, DG Competition, European Commission  
    • Mathias Dewatripont, Université Libre de Bruxelles
    • Helen Jenkins, Oxera
  2. 09:15 – 09:45
    Keynote address
    • Philippe Aghion, Collège de France and INSEAD (online)
    • Chair: John Vickers, University of Oxford (online)
  3. 09:45 – 10:15
    Overview of the Study
    • Otto Toivanen, Aalto University, Lead Academic Researcher on Study
    • John Vickers, University of Oxford (online)
    • Chair: Mathias Dewatripont, Université Libre de Bruxelles
  4. 10:15 - 10:45
    Coffee break
  5. 10:45 – 12:00
    Panel 1: Theories of dynamic harm
    • Giulio Federico, Oxera, Project Director for the Study
    • Chiara Fumagalli, Bocconi University
    • Nancy Rose, MIT
    • Michele Polo, Bocconi University
    • Laurent Eymard, BRG
    • Chair: Marion Bailly, DG Competition, European Commission
  6. 12:00 – 13:15
    Panel 2: Theories of dynamic benefits
    • Yassine Lefouili, Toulouse School of Economics, Economic Advisor on the Study
    • Emanuele Tarantino, DG Competition, European Commission  
    • Ana Sofia Rodrigues, Portuguese Competition Authority
    • Bruno Cassiman, KU Leuven and IESE Business School
    • Jorge Padilla, Compass Lexecon
    • Chair: Timo Klein, Oxera, Project Manager for the Study
  7. 13:15 – 13:30
    Closing remarks

    Anthony Whelan, Director General, DG Competition, European Commission

  8. 13:30
    Lunch

Registration instructions

We will close registrations when we reach full capacity (or at the latest on 31 July 2026).

We plan to inform the admitted participants via email by 7 August 2026.

More information can be found on the general webpage on the review of the Merger Guidelines.

Past workshops

In the context of the review of the Merger Guidelines, as a follow-up to the initial public consultations, DG Competition had already organised three interactive technical stakeholder workshops on key aspects of the review of the Merger Guidelines. The aim of those workshops was to gather views from stakeholders and discuss how they could be incorporated in the draft Merger Guidelines.

The workshops took place on 4 December 2025, 20 January 2026 and 10 June 2026, respectively.