To mark the twentieth anniversary of the EU Merger Regulation (Regulation 139/2004), DG Competition organised a conference that brought together leading experts to discuss and reflect on the impact of EU merger control over the last decades.
In case you missed it, you can watch the recorded debate of the full-day conference.

Today, the European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR'), Illumina's plan to divest GRAIL following the restorative measures requiring Illumina to unwind its completed acquisition of GRAIL, which the Commission adopted in October 2023.

DG Competition's 2023 Merger Simplification Package received the Jury’s Choice Concurrences 2024 Antitrust Writing Award for Best Soft Law in Europe. The Simplification Package entered into force on 1 September 2023 introducing a significant step forward in enhancing efficiency and effectiveness within the framework of the EU Merger Regulation.
DG Competition wishes to thank all who have voted for the 2023 Merger Simplification Package, and to members of the Jury for granting this prestigious award.
More info on the Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards.

The European Commission has informed Deutsche Lufthansa AG (‘Lufthansa') and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (‘MEF') of its preliminary view that their proposed acquisition of joint control of ITA Airways (‘ITA') may restrict competition on certain routes in the market for passenger air transport services in and out of Italy. The Commission is concerned that customers may face increased prices or decreased quality of services after the transaction.

The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Kingspan alleging that the company provided incorrect, incomplete and misleading information during the 2021 Commission's investigation under the EU Merger Regulation (‘EUMR') of Kingspan's planned acquisition of Trimo. Kingspan ultimately abandoned the transaction.

The sixth episode of Let’s Talk Competition will focus on the recently adopted Market Definition Notice and the changes it has introduced to reflect today’s new market realities, such as digitalisation, as well as the developments in the Commission’s case practice.
Three renowned experts will participate in the discussion: Mr. Guillaume Loriot, DG Competition Deputy Director-General for Mergers; Ms. Aleksandra Boutin, Founding Partner of Positive Competition; Ms. Viktoria Robertson, Professor of Competition Law and Digitalisation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Ms. Natalie McNelis, MLex Senior Correspondent for mergers, will moderate the debate.
The event will take place on 29 February 2024 at 13:00 (CET) and it will be webcasted on DG Competition website as well as in DG Competition YouTube channel. No registration is needed.

The sixth episode of Let’s Talk Competition focused on the recently adopted Market Definition Notice and the changes it has introduced to reflect today’s new market realities, such as digitalisation, as well as the developments in the Commission’s case practice.
Three renowned experts took part in the discussion: Mr. Guillaume Loriot, DG Competition Deputy Director-General for Mergers; Ms. Aleksandra Boutin, Founding Partner of Positive Competition; Ms. Viktoria Robertson, Professor of Competition Law and Digitalisation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Ms. Natalie McNelis, MLex Senior Correspondent for mergers, moderated the debate.
You can now watch the recorded debate!

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Bolloré Logistics SE by CMA CGM S.A.. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the parties.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed creation of a joint venture by Orange and MásMóvil. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with a commitments package offered by Orange and MásMóvil.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Asiana Airlines Inc. by Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the remedies offered by Korean Air.

The Commission takes note of the judgment of the General Court annulling the 2020 Commission decision partially waiving the non-reacquisition clause under the commitments made by Nidec to obtain clearance of its acquisition of Embraco, Whirlpool’s refrigeration compressor business. On 16 April 2019, the Commission had approved the proposed acquisition, subject to a set of commitments.
The partial waiver concerned the non-reacquisition clause relating to a fixed speed household compressor manufacturing line (‘Delta line'), which was part of the divestment business that Nidec committed to sell under the commitments. Prior to the acquisition of Embraco, Nidec had planned to develop a variable speed compressor on the basis of the Delta line.
Upon receipt of the request from Nidec to waive the non-reacquisition clause of the commitments with regard to the Delta line, the Commission initiated a market investigation to determine whether a waiver is justified in light of the changed market conditions.
In its waiver decision, the Commission took into account that there had not been any competition concerns regarding the production of fixed speed compressors. Moreover, the Commission found that the structure of the relevant market for variable speed refrigeration compressors for household applications had changed to such an extent that the absence of influence over the concerned part of the divestment business was no longer necessary to render Nidec's acquisition of Embraco compatible with the internal market. On this basis, the Commission decided to approve Nidec's waiver request.
In today’s judgment, the General Court annulled the Commission’s decision because it found that the Commission erred in law. In particular, the Court found that the Commission failed to ascertain whether change in the structure of the relevant market, which justified the waiver, was a lasting one.
The Commission will carefully study the judgment and reflect on possible next steps.

The Commission takes note of Amazon's and iRobot's decision to terminate their agreement according to which Amazon intended to acquire sole control over iRobot. The abandonment follows the findings of the Commission's in-depth investigation and the sending of a Statement of Objections on 27 November 2023.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of sole control of Air Europa Holding, S.L. (‘Air Europa') by International Consolidated Airlines Group, S.A. (‘IAG'). The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may reduce competition in the market for passenger air transport services on several domestic, short-haul and long-haul routes in and out of Spain.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of joint control of ITA Airways (‘ITA') by Deutsche Lufthansa AG (‘Lufthansa”') and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (‘MEF'). The Commission has preliminary concerns that the transaction may reduce competition in the market for passenger air transport services on several short-haul and long-haul routes in and out of Italy.

The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the Court of Justice dismissing UPS’s claims for damages, thereby confirming the Commission’s position. The Court of Justice upheld the judgment of the General Court that UPS had failed to show liability in damages on the part of the European Union. In particular, UPS did not establish causation between the breach of its procedural rights related to the non-communication of the econometric model during the administrative procedure (see Case C-265/17P) and the damages allegedly suffered.

The Commission takes note of today’s judgment of the General Court which upheld the 2019 Commission's decision approving, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of Innogy by E.ON.
In its judgment, the General Court upheld the Commission’s assessment. Notably, the General Court considered that the applicants did not demonstrate that the Commission would have made a manifest error of judgement with respect to the product and geographic market definitions, or with respect to the competitive assessment.
Furthermore, the General Court found that the analytical framework applied by the Commission was sufficiently and adequately explained.
The General Court confirmed that the Commission respected all procedural rights of the appellants.
See also Curia's press release (in PDF format).

The third issue of 2023 includes the following articles: Parker/Meggitt – Applying the brakes on a merger for a safe landing; Orange/VOO/Brutélé - Replacing one access-seeker by another; MOL/OMV Slovenija – Fuel it first; Vivendi/Lagardère – Headlines on competition in books and magazines in France; Advent/Gfk - A well-researched structural fix for conglomerate issues.

The Commission takes note of Adobe's and Figma's decision to terminate their agreement according to which Adobe intended to acquire sole control over Figma. This marks the end of the Commission's investigation into this transaction.

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger between Novozymes A/S and Christian Hansen A/S. The approval is conditional upon full compliance with the commitments offered by the parties.

The European Commission has informed Amazon of its preliminary view that its proposed acquisition of iRobot may restrict competition in the market for robot vacuum cleaners.