EU Merger Control Five Years after the Introduction of the SIEC Test: What Explains the Drop in Enforcement Activity?

Abstract

The most striking initial observation when looking at the Commission’s track record in 2004-2008 is that its horizontal merger enforcement seems to have ground to a near halt when measured by the number and proportion of prohibition decisions. However, as we argue below, prohibition decisions form only part of the Commission’s merger control activity, and the apparent drop in prohibition decisions during 2004-2008 does therefore not automatically imply ineffective enforcement.

Keywords: EC law, enforcement, merger control, notification, SIEC, Significant impediment to effective competition, underenforcement

JEL Classification: K21, L40