New European Commission referral policy for merger cases: implications for French businesses
Publications
01 October 2020
Related people
Headlines in this article
Related news and insights
Publications: 04 April 2024
Integrating Sustainability: Luxembourg's Legal Advancements with the CSRD
Publications: 02 April 2024
News: 27 March 2024
Allen & Overy advises on the sale of majority stake in GasNet
Publications: 26 March 2024
European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager recently announced an important change to EU merger control: the introduction of a possibility for national competition authorities to refer cases they do not have the power to review themselves (ie when national merger control thresholds are not met) to the European Commission (Commission).
This modification of the existing referral system, expected to take effect from mid-2021, will enable the Commission to review potentially anti-competitive mergers even if they do not reach merger filing thresholds, and, critically, where the target has no or little turnover – so-called ‘killer acquisitions’. However, for the time being, uncertainties remain as to how this change will be implemented.