Overview   Event

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:

1. Driving productivity and innovation in the Single Market: the role of EU Merger control;
2. How can mergers promote a more sustainable Europe?; and
3. Mergers and the cost of living: price effects, workers woes and other impacts to society.

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 CET
Prize?
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 and Fatih Birol.

On 29 January, 2026, Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera hosted an international conference in which top experts, policymakers and opinion leaders shared their views on climate change, promoting growth, reducing inequalities and securing a sustainable future for the next generations
In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate.

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 European Commission is currently revising Regulations 1/2003 and 773/2004, which form the framework for the enforcement of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU, notably with the aim of keeping up with transformative changes such as the digitalisation of the economy.
In this context, DG Competition is organising a reality check workshop to further discuss with stakeholders their views on different policy options presented in the Call for evidence. The discussion will also aim to collect views on simplification of the rules and practical implications of the proposed policy options, to ensure they are well targeted, and will deliver the benefits intended. These views will inform the preparation of a draft legislative proposal.

On 3rd December 2025, DG Competition hosted a Reality Check on the application of State aid law by national courts. The event gathered insights from judges and stakeholders on the practical challenges and opportunities in enforcing State aid rules before national courts. These inputs will inform a forthcoming Commission study on the enforcement of State aid rules by national courts in the Member States.
In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate.

DG Competition will hold a “Reality Check” in the form of an online workshop to discuss with stakeholders some of the key proposed changes to the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and its accompanying Guidelines.
The objective of the workshop is to gather more detailed, practical input on how such proposed changes may operate in real-life situations and how they might affect business incentives and practices. This will help ensure that the revised rules are well targeted and effective in delivering their intended benefits.
The reality check will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, 12 November 2025.
Stakeholders with knowledge or experience in applying the TTBER and the Guidelines who wish to participate are invited to complete the registration form.

The objective of the workshop is to discuss the findings of the ex-post evaluation study into ‘killer acquisitions’ in the pharma sector performed by Lear and published by DG Competition on 28 November 2024. Economic and legal experts will have a chance to compare the findings of the study to other recent research.
Registration is now open for the workshop, which will take place on Thursday 10 April, 14:00 – 16:30h.

In case you missed it, here you can watch the whole online expert workshop - DG Competition study on ‘killer acquisitions’ in the pharma sector, held by DG COMP on April 10 2025. The objective of the workshop was to discuss the findings of the ex-post evaluation study into ‘killer acquisitions’with economic and legal experts also comparing the findings of the study to other recent research.

DG Competition will host on 27 March 2025 an expert online workshop with the authors of the new Ex post evaluation study on the effectiveness of antitrust remedies study and leading experts on antitrust remedies to discuss both the findings and the recommendations of the study. The Webex link will be shared with participants a few days before the event.

Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera, responsible for a Clean, Just, and Competitive Transition hosts her first Youth Policy Dialogue on 4 March 2025.
The event is designed as an open and frank discussion. How will the Commission’s policies for a clean, just and competitive transition impact young people — especially young women — and the next generations of Europeans?
The fourteen young participants from across Europe who will animate this year’s debate are the winners of DG Competition’s Student Challenges of 2019, 2021 and 2024 and students from other EU universities.

On 1 August 2024 the Commission launched a consultation of interested parties to comment on draft Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance. The draft Guidelines aim at reflecting the EU courts’ case law on exclusionary abuses and the Commission’s enforcement practice developed in line with it.
DG Competition is organizing an interactive stakeholder workshop to gather views on different key aspects of the draft Guidelines and discuss the practical implications of their application. Participants will be divided into groups to discuss various topics in eight breakout sessions. The results will be presented and discussed in two plenary sessions.
Registrations for the workshop are now open!

This workshop offers interested parties the opportunity to seek clarifications and provide feedback on proposed compliance solutions under the DMA.
The view of third parties is crucial to assessing whether gatekeepers’ compliance with the DMA is effective and if technical and contractual solutions are practicable and transparent, and ultimately whether they deliver benefits, choices, and opportunities to third parties and society as a whole.
Registration to attend the workshop in person closes on 11 November 2024, at 12h00

DG Competition is hosting a half-day workshop to discuss with leading experts its recent report ‘Protecting Competition in a Changing World'. The main objective of the workshop is to deepen the discussion on the findings of the report with economic and legal experts from different backgrounds and further explore its possible implications.

The European announced the winners of the Protecting Competition in a Changing World Student challenge.
As part of the challenge, university students across the EU were invited to watch the "Protecting Competition in a Changing World" conference, select a panel, and answer the question: "What would you have said if you had been a speaker?"
Congratulations to Valentin Ronchev, Sveva Rossi, Corentin Dubreucq-Perus, and Mateusz Mintzberg and a heartfelt thank you to all the students who participated in the competition
DG Competition and Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager look forward to welcoming the winners to Brussels.

On October 15th, DG Competition hosted a half-day workshop for leading experts to discuss its Protecting Competition in a Changing World report on the evolution of competition in the EU during the past 25 years published on 24 June 2024.
The main objective of the workshop was to deepen the discussion on the findings of the report with economic and legal experts from different backgrounds and further explore its possible implications.
In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate.

Officials from ASEAN countries, India and China will take part in the Competition Summer School that will run between 1 and 12 July.
On 2 July, participants will visit the Directorate General for Competition, where they will attend a number of sessions to allow exchanges of experiences between the Asian and European Commission's officials. The Competition Summer School facilitates cooperation amongst the participating authorities and deepens the contacts with European officials and professionals.

The European Commission is pleased to announce its upcoming workshop on competition in virtual worlds and generative AI, scheduled for 28 June 2024. This event serves as a follow-up to the call for contributions launched in January 2024, which sought insights into the state of competition within these two sectors.
Registrations are open!

DG Competition is organising a half-day conference that brings together experts and stakeholders to present and discuss new evidence on the evolution of competition in the EU. The main purpose of the conference is to present and discuss the findings from new economic evidence gathered by a consortium of researchers led by Lear and from within DG Competition itself.