Policy field
Competition: Merger control
Target group
The Commission invites interested stakeholders to respond to the public consultation, which is part of the Commission's evaluation of procedural and jurisdictional aspects of EU merger control.
The Commission seeks feedback, among other stakeholders, from citizens, undertakings, industry and business organisations, consumer associations, professional associations and Member States' authorities.
Stakeholders in the digital economy and the pharmaceutical sector in particular are welcome to comment on the jurisdictional thresholds' section of the questionnaire (IV.2. Jurisdictional thresholds).
Consultation period
From 07.10.2016 until 13.01.2017
Objective of the consultation
Context
Merger control constitutes one of the instruments of EU competition law. It aims at ensuring that competition in the internal market is not distorted by corporate reorganisations in the form of concentrations. It is based on Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (the “EU Merger Regulation”), its Implementing Regulation and related Notices and Guidelines. EU merger legislation can be found here.
In recent years (particularly in 2009 and from 2013 onwards), the European Commission has taken stock and assessed the functioning of different aspects of EU merger control and identified possible areas for refinement, improvement and simplification. In particular, the European Commission adopted in 2014 the White Paper "Towards More Effective EU merger control (the "White Paper"). Based on the White Paper, the Commission carried out a public consultation and the results of that public consultations can be accessed here.
Scope of the evaluation
Simplification and functioning of the case referral system: in light of the positive feedback on the White Paper's proposals on simplification and the European Commission's general objective to cut red-tape where possible, it appears appropriate to explore whether there is scope for further simplification of EU merger control. Similarly, the evaluation seeks feedback on the functioning of the case referral system between Member States and the Commission.
New issues – effectiveness of the turnover-based jurisdictional thresholds of the EU Merger Regulation: the EU Merger Regulation only applies to concentrations of a Union dimension, which are those where the undertakings concerned meet the relevant turnover thresholds. A debate has recently emerged on the effectiveness of these purely turnover-based jurisdictional thresholds, specifically on whether they allow to capture all transactions which can potentially have an impact in the internal market. This may be particularly significant in certain sectors, such as the digital and pharmaceutical industries, where the acquired company, while having generated little turnover as yet, may play a competitive role, hold commercially valuable data, or have a considerable market potential for other reasons.
Other technical aspects: recent experience in enforcing the EU Merger Regulation has shown the opportunity to evaluate certain technical aspects of the procedural and investigative framework for the assessment of mergers. Some of these aspects had already been identified in the 2014 Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the White Paper.
Please click here to access the questionnaire for public consultation and submit your contribution.
Received contributions will be fully published on this webpage, unless respondents choose an anonymised publication of their responses or do not authorise any publication of their responses.
Please note that we cannot guarantee to take account of replies received after the deadline. We would appreciate receiving documents in an electronic format.
View the consultation document
Contact details
Responsible service: Directorate-General for Competition – Unit A2
Please always indicate the reference number in your correspondence: Ref.: HT. 3053
e-mail: COMP-A2-MAIL
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: HT.3053) (COMP-A2-MAIL[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Postal address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Ref.: HT.3053
1049 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgique /België
Replies to the consultation
Public authorities
- Austria - Austrian Federal Competition Authority
- Austria - Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy
- Czech Republic - Office for the Protection of Competition - annex
- Czech Republic – Czech National Bank
- Denmark - The Danish Competition and Consumer Authority on behalf of the Danish Government - annex
- France - Autorité de la concurrence - annex
- France – Permanent Representation of France
- Germany - Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie und Bundeskartellamt - annex
- Germany - Monopolkommission
- Ireland - Irish Competition Authority
- Italy - Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) - annex
- Netherlands - Dutch Competition Authority (ACM)
- Netherlands - Dutch Ministry for Economic Affairs
- Norway - Norwegian Government: Royal Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries
- Poland - Office for Competition and Consumer Protection)
- Slovak Republic - Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic - annex
- Spain - Comision Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia
- Spain - Catalan Competition Authority - annex
- Sweden - Swedish Competition Authority - annex
- United Kingdom - Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) - annex
- United Kingdom – UK Government: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Registered organisations
Law firms
- Abreu Associados
- Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer - annex
- Jones Day - annex
- Latham & Watkins
- LK Shields Solicitors
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- Simmons & Simmons LLP
Companies
- Adobe, Cisco and Oracle - annex
- Cisco Systems Inc. - annex
- CPPIB, AIMCO, OMERS, PSPIB, bcIMC, OTPP, CPDQ - annex
- Enel Spa
- IBM
- Philips International B.V. - annex
- Telefonica SA - annex
Associations
- American Chamber of Commerce to the EU (AmCham) - annex 1 - annex 2
- Application Developers Alliance
- Association des Avocats pratiquant le Droit de la Concurrence (APDC) - annex
- Association française des entreprises privées (AFEP) - annex
- Association of in-house competition lawyers (ICLA)
- British Property Federation - annex
- Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer (The German Federal Bar) - annex
- Business Europe
- Cercle de l'Industrie - annex
- City of London Law Society Competition Law Committee
- Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) - annex
- Confindustria Radio Televisioni
- DIGITALEUROPE - annex
- European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) - annex
- European Association of Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (INREV) - annex
- European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) - annex
- European Competition Lawyers Forum (ECLF) - annex
- European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) - annex
- European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association - annex
- Federation of Enterprises in Belgium - annex
- Federation of German Industries (BDI) - annex - annex
- GSMA - annex
- Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA) - annex
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - annex
- Invest Europe - annex
- Investment Property Forum - annex
Education and research institutions
- Association Française d'Etudes de la Concurrence (AFEC)
- British Institute of International and Comparative Law - annex
Non-registered organisations
Law firms
- Allen & Overy LLP
- Baker McKenzie
- Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP
- "Best Friends" group of law firms - annex 1 - annex 2 - annex 3 - annex 4
- Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
- Clifford Chance LLP
- Dickson Minto W.S. - annex
- Herbert Smith Freehills LLP - annex
- Hogal Lovells International LLP
- Linklaters LLP
- Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
- White & Case LLP
Companies
- AbbVie Inc.
- Abertis Infraestructuras S.A.
- APG Asset Management N.V. - annex
- Microsoft
- OMV Aktiengesellschaft
- Orange - annex
Associations
- American Bar Association Sections of International Law and Antitrust Law (ABA) - annex
- Asociación Española Para la Defensa de la Competencia (AEDC)
- The UK Competition Law Association (CLA)
- Working Group of the Antitrust Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA) - annex
Education and Research institutions
- Université de Rouen - annex
- Centre for Competition Policy – University of East Anglia - annex
Individual replies
- Aleksandra Boutin and Xavier Boutin - annex
Anonymous replies
- Anonymous reply 1 - annex
- Anonymous reply 2
- Anonymous reply 3 - annex