The third issue of 2025 includes the following articles: SES/Intelsat - Merger Control in a Changing Satellite Market; UniCredit/Banco BPM - A Shakespearian drama; and Liberty Media/Dorna Sports - How to avoid going round in circles (on market definition).
The Commission conditionally approved the acquisition by e& of PPF telecom’s activities in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Slovakia, in what is the first decision with commitments under the FSR. The acquirer offered commitments to comply with ordinary UAE bankruptcy rules and thus exclude any unlimited State guarantee, and to ensure that no subsidised financing will be channelled to the internal market through commercial or financial links between the acquirer and the Target. The decision shows that effective solutions can be successfully proposed by the parties in a timely fashion to remedy distortive foreign subsidies.
In the context of the evaluation of Regulation 1/2003, some stakeholders argued that the principles set out in the Court of Justice’s 2010 Akzo judgment should be revisited so that in-house lawyer correspondence can benefit from legal professional privilege. This Competition Policy Brief examines the arguments raised. It finds no reason to depart from the wellestablished principles in the case-law.
EU Member States spent 90% of their State aid in 2024 to support EU priorities, according to the European Commission's 2025 State aid Scoreboard, published today. While overall spending dropped to €168.23 billion in 2024 from €203.35 billion in 2023, Member States channeled more funds towards supporting key EU prorities, such as environmental protection, energy, research, development and innovation and regional development. At the same time, crisis aid measures related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and to the COVID-19 pandemic continued to phase out.
The European Commission published a summary and the individual contributions received in response to the consultation on the ongoing review of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The assessment of these contributions will feed into the Commission's review report to be presented by 3 May 2026 to the European Parliament, the Council, and the European Economic and Social Committee. The regular review of the DMA every three years is a legal requirement, mandated by the regulation itself, to ensure that the DMA meets its objectives and maintains its effectiveness in the evolving landscape of digital markets.
The European Commission acknowledges Meta's undertaking to offer users in the EU an alternative choice of Facebook and Instagram services that would show them less personalised ads, to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is the first time that such a choice is offered on Meta's social networks. Meta will give users the effective choice between: consenting to share all their data and seeing fully personalised advertising, and opting to share less personal data for an experience with more limited personalised advertising. Meta will present these new options to users in the EU in January 2026.
In the context of the review of the Merger Guidelines, as a follow-up to the public consultation, DG Competition is organizing two interactive technical stakeholder workshops on key aspects of the review of the Merger Guidelines. The aim of the workshops is to gather views on these important topics of the review and discuss how they could be incorporated in the draft Merger Guidelines. Workshop 1: Scale, Competitiveness and Efficiencies. Brussels, 4 December 2025, 9.00 – 17:00 CETWorkshop 2: Innovation, Investment, Sustainability, Labour and Democracy. Brussels, 20 January 2026, 9.00 – 17:00 CET
To mark its 20th Anniversary, the Chief Economist Team is organising a conference that will bring together leading experts to discuss and reflect about competition economics in a changing world. The event will be a half-day conference (exclusively in-person, with no streaming available) on Thursday 15 May 2025, with opening and closing remarks by Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera and Director-General Olivier Guersent, a keynote lecture by Chief Competition Economist Prof. Emanuele Tarantino, as well as roundtables where contributors from academia, private sector and public sector will discuss about the contribution of economics to public policies, with an emphasis in competition and industrial policies.
On 4 March 2025, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera hosted her first Youth Policy Dialogue on Empowering Young Talent and Improving Gender Balance in the EU. The event was an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas with the younger generation and listen to their insightful contributions. Here you can see the highlights of event. For more information about the Dialogue, please click here, and for the recording of the whole event, please click here.
If you are interested in the topics of the Blueprint Conference and are a university student, you are invited to take on our Student Challenge and give yourself a chance to share your views with EVP Teresa Ribera. How? (i) Watch the Blueprint Conference on or after 29 January 2026; (ii) Choose a panel discussion; (iii) picture yourself among the speakers and (iv) tell us what you would have talked about. Send your abstracts — no more than 250 words — to comp-blueprint-conference@ec.europa.eu by 10 February 2026 at 6 pm CETPrize?We will invite the winners to Brussels to meet EVP Ribera for a Youth Policy Dialogue like this one. Read the complete Student Challenge rules and good luck to all.
On 29 January, 2026, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera will host an international conference whose main objective is exploring the Commission's priorities on climate change, promoting growth, reducing inequalities and securing a sustainable future for the next generations. Executive Vice-President Ribera is inviting top experts, policymakers and opinion leaders to share their views at a time that many describe as an inflection point in Europe’s history. Confirmed spakers include Enrico Letta, Nadia Calviño, Rebeca Grynspan and Fatih Birol.
The OECD Competition Division and the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) are joining efforts to bring together key findings from the revision of the OECD Recommendation and the European Commission’s public consultation. Experts on merger control will discuss current international best practices and principles that govern merger control, touching upon aspects of competitiveness, resilience and the effects of mergers on innovation.The event publicly presents the revision of the OECD Recommendation on Merger Review amended by the OECD Council meeting at Ministerial level on 3 June 2025 and showcases core insights from the European Commission’s public consultation.
The Communication from the Commission on the application of State aid rules to public service broadcasting sets out the framework governing the public funding of public service broadcasting. It was last reviewed in 2009. The Commission will evaluate how the Communication has worked and assess whether the rules: • are still fit for purpose, • address recent technological, market and legal developments, • deliver the intended outcomes, and • could be simplified or made clearer. The general public consultation questionnaire is available here; whereas the expert consultation questionnaire is available here.The deadline to reply to both questionnaires is 14 January 2026.See also the Commission's press release.
The DMA and the GDPR are independent regulatory frameworks with complementary objectives and several points of intersection. To ensure the coherent and effective application of the two sets of rules, the Commission and the EDPB decided to issue Joint Guidelines on the interplay between the DMA and the GDPR (Joint Guidelines). The Joint Guidelines provide guidance to gatekeepers on how to interpret and comply with the two sets of rules, ensuring that the distinct competences of the Commission and the EDPB are respected. The objective of the consultation is to gather feedback on the draft Joint Guidelines. The Commission and the EDPB will carefully review all submissions before adopting the final Joint Guidelines, in 2026. See also the Commission's press release.
The goal of the public consultation is to gather insights and feedback from national, regional and local authorities, stakeholders and the public. This will notably help the Commission to assess, in a collaborative, transparent and inclusive manner, how the SGEI Decision needs to be amended to facilitate affordable housing investments. Citizens, organisations and public authorities can contribute to the public consultation until 4 November 2025.See also the European Commission's press release.
Speech by EVP Teresa Ribera at the 2025 CRA Brussels Conference,Brussels, 9 December 2025. [...] "As European Commissioners it is our duty to stand up, in order to defend values and the enforcement of our laws. As Commissioner in charge of competition, it is my duty to defend the competition toolkit, to enforce competition laws, including the DMA, even in times of weaponisation of trade." [...]
Keynote Speech by EVP Teresa Ribera at the OECD Global Forum on Competition,Paris, 1 December 2025. [...] "Competition law is not a tool for controlling markets or advancing narrow economic interests. It is an essential pillar of open, fair, and sustainable markets. It should never be a bargaining chip in trade negotiations or a tool for protectionism.Its purpose is to safeguard citizens' welfare and strengthen economies in a socially and environmentally responsible way.For this, international cooperation, dialogue and a strong commitment to multilateralism are essential." [...]
Remarks by EVP Teresa Ribera at the Lisbon Conference on Competition Law and Economics,Lisbon, 24 October 2025. [...] "I want to leave you today with a simple message: Europe's future competitiveness will not come from weakening competition, closing markets, or protecting incumbents.Competition policy is about preventing excessive power, and is therefore critical to our democracy.Nor will competitiveness come from ignoring climate change, lowering our standards, or deregulating instead of simplifying.We cannot ignore the externalities of our economic choices. Competition tools can help with this. So can our Single Market. But there is no competitiveness in a race to the bottom".
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €200 million German scheme to support the production in Canada of renewable hydrogen and its derivatives, known as renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs). These RFNBOs will be imported to Germany and sold in the EU, contributing to the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal, the EU Hydrogen Strategy, and the REPowerEU Plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels and accelerate the clean transition.
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, French restructuring aid of a total of €167.8 million to airline Corsair. The aid consists of an €80 million write-off on loans that were approved by the Commission in December 2020 and €87.8 million of additional financing. The approval is subject to conditions.
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, the reform of the French electricity capacity mechanism. This aid measure aims to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to produce, store or flexibly consume electricity and that electricity production meets the expected demand.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether public support that Czechia plans to grant for the construction and operation of two new nuclear units in Dukovany is in line with EU State aid rules.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (‘FSR'), the activities of Nuctech in the production and sale of threat detection systems (‘TDS') and the provision of related services within the EU. The Commission has preliminary concerns that Nuctech may have been granted foreign subsidies that could distort the EU internal market.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of joint control of Terminal Catalunya (‘TERCAT') by Terminal Investment Limited Holding (‘TIL') and Hutchison Ports. The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may lead to higher prices or reduced quality of container terminal services at the port of Barcelona, Spain.
The European Commission has published Guidelines under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) to bring further predictability and ensure transparency for companies. They clarify several concepts, such as how the Commission concludes whether there is a distortion of competition caused by a foreign subsidy, how distortive effects are balanced against any positive effects of a foreign subsidy, and the Commission's power to request prior notification of below-threshold cases.See also COMP Flash.
The European Commission has today adopted an amendment to the Guidelines on certain State aid measures in the context of the system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading post-2021 (‘ETS State aid Guidelines'). As announced in the European Chemicals Industry Action Plan, the amendment addresses the increased risk of carbon leakage for additional energy-intensive industries, due to the sustained rise of emission costs under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) in the last years. The inclusion of additional sectors will contribute to the competitiveness of EU industry while incentivising their decarbonisation.
The Commission addressed one of the most pressing needs of EU citizens by presenting the first European Affordable Housing Plan, focusing on increasing housing supply and triggering investment.Investments in housing supply have declined over the last decade, and supply has not kept up with demand. This is due to higher construction costs, shortages of skilled labour and red tape.Under this plan, EU State aid rules have been revised to facilitate financial support from Member States for affordable, and social housing, including: (i) No need for pre-approval from the Commission; (ii) Special exemptions and simplified compliance for non-profit entities; and (iii) Reduced reporting and streamlined checks to minimise procedural hurdles.
Executive Vice-President Vestager has informed President von der Leyen about her nomination as an official candidate by the Danish government for the position of President of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank and requested an unpaid leave for the duration of the campaign. The President has granted the unpaid leave to Executive Vice-President Vestager underlining that during that period the relevant provisions of the Treaties and the Code of Conduct for the Members of the Commission continue to apply.
"I have received a letter from Professor Fiona Scott Morton that she has decided to withdraw and not take up the post as Chief Competition Economist. Having also spoken with Professor Scott Morton, I accept her decision, with regret and full respect for her integrity." [...]
The European Commission has appointed Fiona Scott Morton as Chief Competition Economist at the Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP). This Commission department works to ensure that all companies compete equally and fairly on their merits within the single market, to the benefit of consumers, businesses and the European economy as a whole. She will take up her duties on 1 September 2023.
The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice concerning the interpretation of Articles 3 and 6 of Regulation 1408/2013 regarding the application for de minimis aid in the agriculture sector.In its judgment, in line with the Commission’s position, the Court clarified that, while waiting for the implementation of a de minimis register and in without the specific declaration by the applicant regarding aid received in the three-year period, the Member State is not allowed to grant aid.The Court clarified that the Member State has to verify whether aid has been received in three years prior to the moment the self-declaration is submitted. The Court also clarified that the self-declaration is needed at the time of the granting of the aid. In addition, the Court clarified that the Member State concerned may classify the compensation as “de minimis aid” and thus refrain from notification to the Commission, if it complies with the conditions of the De Minimis aid Regulation for the agriculture sector.The referring court is called to apply that finding in the context of the national dispute pertaining to the granting of compensation for the beneficiary of damage caused by wild fauna to its organic durum wheat crops in 2014.
The Commission takes note of the preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union clarifying that the possibility for a national competition authority to unilaterally extend, by reasoned decision subject to judicial review, the deadline initially set for the closure of its administrative proceedings is not, in itself, contrary to the right to good administration, Article 47 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, provided that the postponement does not result in failure to observe the reasonable period within which the investigation must be concluded.The Commission also takes note of the confirmation of the Court of Justice of the European Union that the reasonable duration of administrative proceedings must be assessed in light of all the relevant circumstances specific to the individual case and that failure to observe a reasonable duration of the proceedings is capable of justifying the annulment of the decision only if the undertaking demonstrates to the requisite legal standard that it affected its rights of defence.
The Commission takes note of today’s judgments of the Court of Justice , which dismissed the appeals lodged by UNO and ASEMPRE against the 2023 judgments of the General Court in Cases T-514/20 and T-513/20. In those judgments, the General Court had rejected their applications for annulment of the Commission’s 2020 State aid decision concerning the compensation granted to Correos for the provision of the universal service obligation in Spain during the period 2011–2020.In the judgments, the Court of Justice confirmed that the applicants did not sufficiently demonstrate that they were individually affected by the Commission decision and that, consequently, their actions for annulment were rightly dismissed. See also Judgment in Asempre v Commission.
