Using a relatively simple method inspired by the OECD, DG Competition estimates every year the direct customer savings generated by the European Commission’s (EC) antitrust, cartel and merger enforcement actions. These savings are in the order of EUR 12-21 billion per year on average over the past decade.
The European Commission published its third annual report outlining the progress towards achieving the objectives of the Digital Markets Act (‘DMA') to support fair and contestable digital markets in the EU.
The fourth issue of 2026 includes the following articles: "Cleared for Take-Off, Subject to Conditions" (looking at the Commission’s conditional approval of Boeing’s acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems following a Phase I investigation) ; and "M.11939 FrieslandCampina/Milcobel – A dairy tale" (which covers the Commission’s first assessment of a merger between dairy cooperatives in the context of a sustained milk shortage, following an in-depth investigation into the dairy sector in Belgium and the Netherlands.)
The Clean Industrial Deal State aid Framework (CISAF) was adopted on 25th June 2025. One year on, the CISAF helps EU Member States to easily support the development of clean energy, industrial carbonisation and clean technology. By using the CISAF over the last year, the Commission has:Taken a total of 28 decisionsApproved 29 national measures notified by 15 Member StatesApproved a total of €61.778 in State aidMore information on the CISAF is available on our website.
Together with the National Competition Authorities of the European Competition Network (ECN), we published today a Joint Statement on the implementation of merger call-in mechanisms. It has become increasingly evident that some concentrations that do not meet mandatory notification thresholds may still have a significant impact on competition, to the detriment of consumers and competitive market dynamics. As more and more Member States introduce call-in mechanisms into their national legal frameworks, this Joint Statement comes at a timely moment. The three-page Joint Statement recognises that call-in mechanisms can be an effective and proportionate tool to ensure that potentially harmful mergers do not escape scrutiny, while also setting out key principles to enhance legal certainty and predictability for businesses.
The Commission’s enforcement of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) is delivering new interoperability and data portability features for developers and providers of connected devices (such as headphones, smartwatches, and smart glasses). As a result, iPhone and Android users can expect to see improvements in how their smartphones work over the next weeks and months.
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.
The Commission is advancing its market investigation on the application of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) to cloud markets, to gather views from experts. The Commission will invite stakeholders who actively contributed to the market investigation to further share their views among other experts in thematic roundtables to be held on 1 July 2026, covering (i) the interoperability between/with cloud computing services and other technical features, (ii) financial conditions applying to procuring cloud computing services and (iii) other contractual conditions between customers and cloud computing services providers.
As part of its ongoing public consultation on the Draft Merger Guidelines (published on 30 April 2026 for replies by 26 June 2026, more information here), DG Competition is organizing an interactive technical stakeholder workshop on key aspects of the draft text of the Merger Guidelines.The aim of the workshop is to gather views on all sections of the draft text and discuss potential amendments to the final Merger Guidelines.
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.
The procurement aims to obtain a study on the State aid enforcement by national courts in the EU, including a comprehensive overview of the relevant national court cases since the last study carried out for the Commission, i.e. 1st January 2018. Through the Study, the Commission intends to obtain the state of play of the application of State aid rules before national courts, the identification of the main obstacles and best practices arising at national level, as well as recommendations on possible actions to be undertaken by the Commission and at national level to improve the effectiveness and uniformity of State aid enforcement.
The European Commission invites expressions of interest for the role of Non-Governmental Advisors in the International Competition Network (ICN) for the 2026-2027 term.ICN members collaborate with non-governmental advisors, including academics, industry representatives, consumer groups, trade unions, and private practitioners. This collaboration enriches ICN projects by incorporating diverse perspectives.We seek to partner with various ICN-NGAs to ensure high-quality contributions based on broad stakeholder experience. Selected ICN-NGAs will actively engage with the European Commission in drafting and revising Working Group outputs, and participating in seminars, webinars, and workshops.If you are interested in becoming an ICN-NGA and supporting the European Commission, please contact DG Competition at COMP-ICN@ec.europa.eu. The call for interest will be open until 16 June 2026 (close of business).
The Commission is publishing for consultation the draft Guidelines on State aid to the air transport sector, which will replace the 2014 Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines. This consultation will be open to the general public. National authorities, airports, airlines and related associations are in particular welcome to contribute.Deadline for the submission of contributions is 11 June 2026See also the European Commission's press release.
Speech by EVP Teresa Ribera at the European Competition Forum,Brussels, 17 June 2026. [...] "The debate today is not just about legal tests or market definitions. Competition policy must be connected to the wider challenges facing Europe: innovation, resilience, energy security, and technological sovereignty. It is a tool to help Europe remain prosperous, respectful, reliable, democratic, and free.The principles of openness, fairness, opportunity, and the rule of law remain valid, but our instruments must evolve to respond to today's realities. I am committed and engaged, but I count on you, researchers, practitioners, lawyers, judges, and authorities.We need to work together to modernise competition policy, challenge old assumptions, and connect the dots. Together, we can deliver a more innovative, resilient, and reliable Europe for our citizens." [...]
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." [...]
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Sanofi has breached EU competition rules by carrying out a communication campaign that disparages the only rival flu vaccine recommended for vulnerable patients with risk factors.
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, Romanian measures for the national investment and development bank Banca de Investiții și Dezvoltare S.A. ('BID'). In January 2023, the Commission approved a Romanian measure to set up BID with an initial capital of €1.6 billion. The measures approved today consist of a capital increase of €1 billion, partly funded by the Recovery and Resilience Facility ('RRF'), as well as a three-year extension of the State guarantee backing BID's operations. The Commission has also approved an extension of the scope of the bank's activities beyond those authorised in 2023.
The Commission has informed Amazon and Microsoft of its preliminary view that they should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), for their cloud computing services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure (Azure) respectively.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation ('FSR'), the proposed acquisition by JD.com, Inc. ('JD.com') of CECONOMY AG ('CECONOMY'). The Commission has preliminary concerns that JD.com may have been granted foreign subsidies that could distort the EU internal market.
The European Commission has informed several companies active in the synthetic turf sector of its preliminary view that they have breached EU antitrust rules by colluding to distort competition in synthetic turf for sports pitches in the Netherlands and Germany.
The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed creation of a joint venture between UPM-Kymmene Corporation ('UPM') and Sappi Limited ('Sappi'). The Commission is concerned that the transaction may reduce competition in certain markets for the production and supply of communication paper and specialty paper in the European Economic Area ('EEA') and result in higher prices, less choice or reduced quality.
The European Commission has today launched a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on its draft revised Guidelines on State aid to the air transport sector. These will replace the existing Guidelines, which were adopted in 2014. Interested parties are invited to respond to the public consultation by 11 June 2026.
The European Commission has launched today a public consultation inviting comments on the draft of the new EU Merger Guidelines. These will replace the current Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines. This marks the most significant reform in EU merger control of the past two decades.See also the consultation's form, as well as the corresponding COMP Flash.
The European Commission has adopted a temporary State aid framework to enable Member States to support the EU economy in the context of the Middle East crisis. The Middle East crisis Temporary State aid Framework (METSAF) is a targeted and temporary framework to address the effects of the crisis on some of the most exposed sectors of the economy: agriculture, fishery, transport and energy-intensive industries. The METSAF will be in place until 31 December 2026. During its period of application, the Commission will keep the content, scope and duration of the Framework under review in the light of developments in the Middle East and in the general economic situation.See also Remarks by Executive Vice-President Ribera at the press conference on the METSAF.
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 today’s judgment of the Court of Justice, which rejects the appeal brought by Laurent Merlin, 36 other fishermen and the association Life, against the judgment rendered by the General Court in case T-141/23. The appealed judgment partially dismissed an action for failure to act against the Commission under Article 265 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. In today’s judgment, the Court of Justice concludes that the General Court did not err in law by dismissing the action and correctly concluded that the Commission had defined its position on the measures granted by The Netherlands to Dutch shipowners for electric trawl fishing, which were cofinanced under the European Fisheries Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund.
The Commission takes note of today’s judgement of the General Court confirming the designation of Messenger as a core platform service under the DMA. This is an important step for the enforcement of the DMA and for the pursuit of more contestability and fairness in digital markets. It means that Meta must keep offering interoperability between Messenger and other number-independent interpersonal communications services, similarly than for WhatsApp.The Commission also takes note of the General Court’s ruling invalidating the designation of Marketplace as a core platform service under the DMA. We will carefully assess the General Court’s ruling in this regard. The impact of this invalidation is limited, because Marketplace has already been un-designated by the Commission since April 2025 due to the Business Users threshold no longer being met. See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).
The Commission takes note of today’s judgments of the General Court which dismissed the actions for annulment brought by Vivendi and Lagardère against two Commission’s decisions from 2023. Those decisions required Vivendi and Lagardère to submit certain internal documents as part of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into whether Vivendi breached EU merger rules by implementing its acquisition of Lagardère before merger approval.The Commission will carefully study the judgments and reflect on possible next steps.See also judgment in Lagardère v Commission.
