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Mergers
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08/05/2025
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Commission seeks feedback on the review of EU merger guidelines
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The European Commission has launched today a public consultation to seek feedback on its ongoing review of the EU merger guidelines. The merger guidelines describe the framework that the Commission applies when assessing the competitive impact of mergers on markets. The review process will focus on how the Commission's assessment should give adequate weight to innovation, efficiency, resilience, the time horizons and investment intensity of competition in certain strategic sectors, sustainability, the changed defence and security environment and other acute transformational needs of our times.
See also the corresponding COMP Flash.
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State aid
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08/05/2025
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Commission approves €5 billion French scheme to facilitate the export of wines and spirits to the US
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The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €5 billion French re-insurance scheme for export credit to the United States. The scheme will be in place from 8 May 2025 to 8 July 2025 and will allow exporters of wines and spirits to export inventory to the US, prior to the announced new wave of tariffs going into effect.
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Court
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08/05/2025
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Beevers Kaas
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The Commission takes note of the judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-581/23 Beevers Kaas.
The judgment clarifies under which conditions an exclusive distribution system may benefit from an exemption under the 2010 Vertical Block Exemption Regulation.
The Court confirmed for the first time that one of the conditions for an active sales ban imposed to protect an exclusive distribution system to benefit from the 2010 Vertical Block Exemption regulation is that the supplier must obtain the (express or implicit) acceptance of the sales ban by all its other distributors in the EEA.
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Events
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15/05/2025
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CET 20 Years: Competition Economics in a Changing World
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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.
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Public consultations
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28/02/2025 - 23/05/2025
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Evaluation: Motor Vehicle Block Exemption Regulation
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This initiative aims to evaluate the Regulation ahead of its expiry on 31 May 2028, looking at the following aspects in particular: - the functioning of the Regulation since its recent extension, and
- the amendments to the guidance provided in the corresponding Commission Notice (Supplementary Guidelines) in 2023.
See also the Commission's press release.
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01/04/2025 - 31/05/2025
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Call for input: competition law and critical raw materials
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In this call for input, market participants are invited to indicate specific areas of their business activities as regards the procurement, recycling and re-use of raw materials for which guidance from the European Commission would help their assessment under the EU competition rules of specific instances of cooperation with competitors, with a view to enabling such cooperation.
Depending on the input received, DG COMP may engage with stakeholders in a targeted manner with questionnaires and may also organise a workshop to refine the insights collected on specific raw materials and industries.
See also the European Commission's press release.
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08/05/2025 - 03/09/2025
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Review merger guidelines : General public consultation questionnaire
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The Commission is proposing to revise both the Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2004) as well as the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2008) in a holistic exercise. The goal is to ensure the Guidelines are up-to-date in order to allow the Commission to continue to protect competition under the Merger Regulation in evolving market realities, while not intervening in transactions that do not harm competition. In addition, the revised merger guidelines should provide increased transparency and predictability to the business community as to how the Commission assesses mergers today. The Commission will conduct concurrently both an Evaluation and an Impact Assessment to support the review of the Guidelines.
Any interested citizen, business or association can contribute by replying to the general public consultation questionnaire until 3 September 2025.
See also the European Commission's press release.
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08/05/2025 - 03/09/2025
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Review merger guidelines : in-depth questionnaire
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The Commission is proposing to revise both the Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2004) as well as the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines (published in 2008) in a holistic exercise. The goal is to ensure the Guidelines are up-to-date in order to allow the Commission to continue to protect competition under the Merger Regulation in evolving market realities, while not intervening in transactions that do not harm competition. In addition, the revised merger guidelines should provide increased transparency and predictability to the business community as to how the Commission assesses mergers today. The Commission will conduct concurrently both an Evaluation and an Impact Assessment to support the review of the Guidelines.
The present consultation runs in parallel to a general Public Consultation and focusses on in-depth and technical parameters related to EU merger control. The form provides 7 specific topics that are relevant for the Commission’s assessment, as well as accompanying technical questions. Any interested citizen, business or association can contribute by replying to the general public consultation questionnaire until 3 September 2025.
See also the European Commission's press release.
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Open calls for tender
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25/03/2025 - 20/05/2025
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Study on dynamic merger effects
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DG COMP has launched a call for tender for an economic study on the dynamic effects of mergers, such as its impact on incentives to innovate and invest. The study aims to provide analytical foundations to assess whether a merger has a positive or negative impact on these dynamic factors, and how they trade off against static factors – such as changes in prices or output.
See also DG COMP's press release.
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New legislation
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