Principal Changes and Implications

The European Commission today published a draft of its long-awaited revision of the Merger Guidelines, combining the 2004 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2008 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines into a single document that takes account of the Draghi Report’s call for more dynamic, forward-looking merger control, acknowledges the benefits of scale, resilience, innovation, and global competitiveness, and suggests a greater readiness to take positive account of efficiencies. The Draft Guidelines represent a significant evolution in the Commission’s approach to mergers, although their practical implications may take time to emerge. Announcing the Draft Guidelines, Commission President von der Leyen underlined the need “to better support companies to thrive, scale and innovate … so we can meet the realities of the fiercely competitive global economy and boost our competitiveness,” while Executive Vice President Ribera emphasized the “unchanged” purpose of “protecting strong, competitive markets without allowing an accumulation of power that can be abused.” A final text of the new Merger Guidelines is expected later this year, although the principles set out in the Draft Guidelines will likely shape the Commission’s assessment of ongoing cases.