Overview

This Study supports the revision of the EU Guidelines on State Aid to Airports and Airlines in light of evolving market dynamics, the impact of COVID-19, and the challenges of the green transition for the European aviation sector. Evidence was collected through literature review, data analysis, stakeholder consultations, and six case studies. The findings show that profitability remains a structural challenge for regional airports (i.e. airports with annual passenger traffic volume of up to 3 million passengers per year): only about 54% of European regional airports that the Study has sampled were cost-covering in 2024 (figures reported by EU airport associations are even lower).

Following a request by the Luxembourg competition authority pursuant to Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation, the European Commission conducted an expost review of the acquisition of Boissons Heintz by Brasserie Nationale.The Transaction was cleared in Phase I, subject to the divestiture of Boissons Heintz’s on-trade activities. This divestment business has been acquired by a Belgian wholesaler, Brasserie Maziers, that the Commission approved. This remedy enables Brasserie Maziers to enter into Luxembourg and contributes to the further integration of the internal market.

The timeline for our policy objectives 2024–2029 is now updated. It offers a clear view of what lies ahead for competition policy.

Today, the Commission and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published the individual contributions received in response to the public consultation on the draft joint guidelines on the interplay between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), launched by the Commission and the EDPB.  The Commission and the EDPB welcome the high level of participation, with over 100 contributions submitted by a broad range of parties, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), trade and business associations, gatekeepers, civil society and consumer organisations, academics, think tanks, law firms, and individual citizens. The contributions show the respondents’ broad support for the initiative and the cross-regulatory dialogue, which is widely seen as necessary to ensure coherence between the enforcement of the DMA and the protection of fundamental rights under the GDPR. 

The gatekeepers designated on 6 September 2023, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft, have submitted reports on their updated compliance measures under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), outlining the changes they have implemented and measures they have taken during the past year. The gatekeepers also submitted to the Commission updated independently audited reports on consumer profiling techniques.

Today, the European Commission and the United Kingdom signed the EU-UK Competition Cooperation Agreement. The agreement sets a new and clear framework for cooperation on competition matters between, on the one side, the Commission and EU Member State competition authorities, and, on the other side, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority. It is the first dedicated EU-UK agreement fully focused on competition cooperation following the withdrawal of the UK from the Union.See also Opening remarks by Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera at the signing ceremony of the EU – UK Competition Cooperation Agreement.

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.

On 5 March 2026, DG Competition will host a conference to discuss key aspects of the ongoing review of the Merger Guidelines. This event will bring together leading experts and stakeholders to explore the latest developments and challenges in EU merger control.The conference will debate three broad themes:Driving productivity and innovation in the Single Market: the role of EU Merger control;How can mergers promote a more sustainable Europe?; andMergers and the cost of living: price effects, workers woes and other impacts to society.The conference will be held only in-person. DG Competition plans to inform the admitted participants via email by 13 February 2026.

On March 3rd, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, responsible for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition hosted her second Youth Policy Dialogue. The ten young winners of DG Competition’s Student Challenge linked to the Blueprint Conference of last January met the EVP. They discussed together a blueprint for our future in Europe, exchanging bold and innovative ideas for competition policy and other, broader policies of the European Commission.

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.

The Guarantee Notice of 2008 describes how the Commission assesses State guarantees, on loans to undertakings for example. The general aim of the Notice is to ensure a clear, predictable and easy-to-apply framework for Member States to establish guarantee premia that are in conformity with what market operators would charge (‘market-conform premia’) and to implement guarantee measures. The Commission’s recent evaluation of the notice has revealed some areas in need of improvement. This call for evidence is open for feedback. Your input will be taken into account as we further develop and fine-tune this initiative.

Based on the Guidelines on regional State aid, EU countries can grant regional aid in assisted areas in the EU, as identified in a regional aid map and in line with the conditions laid down in those guidelines.The current regional aid maps expire on 31 December 2027. This initiative aims to update the statistical data required for creating the new regional aid maps that will be used from 2028 to 2034.

DG Competition has launched today an open call for tenders for the organisation of a EU-Africa School on Competition Policy.The focus of the planned activity will primarily be to explain key concepts of EU competition law and enforcement policy to African officials and to introduce them to the functioning of the European Competition Network. This action should allow African enforcement officials and policymakers alike to critically reflect on and review current domestic competition legislation as well as enforcement practices. As a potential result, competition law enforcement will become fairer, predictable and more rigorous, thereby improving investment conditions for EU and African companies on the African continent.Deadline for applications is 19th March 2026.

Keynote speech of the EVP Ribera at the 23rd International Conference on Competition,Berlin, 12 March 2026. [...] "Competition enforcement can complement political priorities but parliaments decide on political priorities and trade-offs. So, in these uncertain geopolitical times I wish for competition policy that we know is principled, that we work to modernise and that we acknowledge is very relevant, but complementary." [...]

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." [...]

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €260 million Belgian measure in favour of Air Liquide Large Industry NV ('Air Liquide') and BASF Antwerpen NV ('BASF') for a carbon capture and storage ('CCS') project, Kairos@C. The measure will contribute to Belgium's climate targets by decarbonising the industry through an integrated cross-border CCS value chain, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal.

The European Commission has approved a €150 million (RON 764 million) Romanian scheme to support electricity storage, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025.

The European Commission has approved a €200 million Spanish State aid scheme to support strategic investments that add manufacturing capacity for the electric vehicle (EV) value chain, in line with the objectives of the Clean Industrial Deal. This measure will contribute to the transition towards a net-zero economy. The scheme was approved under the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework (CISAF) adopted by the Commission on 25 June 2025.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether Romania's proposed amendments to power company CE Oltenia's restructuring plan are in line with EU state aid rules.

The European Commission has decided to close its antitrust investigation into allegedly anticompetitive behaviour by Edwards Lifesciences, a producer of medical devices for cardiovascular applications. The closure of the investigation follows the company's withdrawal of its so-called Global Unilateral Pro-Innovation (Anti-Copycatting) Policy ('UPIP'). Hence, the UPIP is no longer applicable and has been removed from the company's website.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation ('FSR'), the activities of Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd. ('Goldwind') in the production and sale of wind turbines and the provision of related services within the EU. The Commission has preliminary concerns that Goldwind may have been granted foreign subsidies that could distort the EU internal market.

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation on the draft of a simpler and more streamlined General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER). The new version will align the GBER with current social, market and technological conditions. The Commission invites Member States and all other interested parties to comment on the draft by 23 April 2026.

The Commission is seeking stakeholder views on the draft for a new General Block Exemption Regulation (“GBER”).Following a broad public consultation and call for evidence in 2025, the Commission has reviewed the GBER with the aim to simplify it, bring it into line with social, market and technological developments and streamline it by addressing inconsistencies and improving readability. The draft for a revised GBER submitted for this public consultation reflects those objectives.

Today, the European Commission published a summary of the contributions received in response to the public consultation on the ongoing review of the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). These contributions will feed into the Commission's review report, which will be presented to the European Parliament and the Council later this year as required by the FSR.

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 judgments by the Court of Justice dismissing almost all appeals brought by the airlines against the General Court’s judgments of 2022. In its judgments, the Court of Justice fully upholds the Commission’s and General Court’s assessment of the cartel conduct concerning the provision of airfreight services on a global basis and the Commission’s jurisdiction to prosecute international cartels. The Commission takes note of the decision of the Court of Justice to set aside the judgment of the General Court addressed to SAS and reduce the amount of the fine imposed on SAS. See also judgment in SAS Cargo Group and Others v Commission.

The Commission takes note of today’s preliminary ruling of the Court of Justice in the Meliá case (C 286/24).It follows from the Court’s ruling that Article 5(1) of the Damages Directive 2014/104/EU, laying down the conditions claimants in private antitrust damages proceedings need to meet to obtain a court order requiring the defendants or third parties to disclose evidence covers not only disclosure requests made in the context of an action for damages, but can also apply to disclosure requests made before the beginning of such damages actions, provided that such prior disclosure requests are foreseen under national law.The Court further clarified that the existence of a decision by the European Commission finding an infringement of EU antitrust rules in the form of a vertical by object restriction is not, in itself, sufficient for claimants in private antitrust damages proceedings to support the plausibility of their claim for damages in order to obtain court-ordered disclosure. Such a decision may contain relevant elements for establishing the plausibility of a damages claim together with other facts and evidence in the reasonable disposition of the claimant. This is because for a damages claim to be considered plausible, the claimant does not only need to show a plausible infringement of competition rules, which is established by an infringement decision by the European Commission, but it also has to substantiate the plausibility of having suffered an antitrust harm and of the causal link between that harm and the alleged infringement of competition law. This is the case even if the decision has been adopted as part of a settlement procedure.Moreover, the Court clarified that the standard of proof claimants in private damages proceedings need to meet to substantiate the plausibility of their damages claim in order to obtain court-ordered disclosure of evidence is lower than that of the balance of probabilities which would require claimants to demonstrate that it is more likely than not that the constitutive conditions for liability under the Damages Directive have been fulfilled. Instead, it is sufficient for the claimants to show that it is reasonably acceptable to assume that these conditions are present.Today’s preliminary ruling by the Court of Justice importantly clarifies the evidentiary requirements that claimants in private antitrust damages proceedings need to meet in order to obtain court-ordered disclosure of evidence relevant for their claim for damages.

The Commission takes note of the judgment by the General Court, which confirms the Commission’s decision of 7 December 2023 against Lantmännen for its participation in the Ethanol Benchmarks cartel. Today’s judgment brings further clarity as regards staggered hybrid cases. In its judgment the Court confirms that the Commission can adopt settlement decisions against one single company, while the other parties to the agreement continue being investigated under the ordinary procedure without this constituting a breach of their rights of defence. In addition, the Court confirms that the principles of presumption of innocence and the Commission’s duty of impartiality have been fully adhered to in this case.