EU Control of Concentrations: Update to the Reality of Global Business?

18 Pages Posted: 15 Jun 2020

Date Written: June 11, 2020

Abstract

The European Union is intensively discussing changes in its merger control to adapt the existing regime, laid down by Regulation No 139/2004 (EUMR), to new realities. These are, besides the challenge posed by the development of the digital economy, issues connected with the global success of competitors from non-EU countries, which are presumed to be better placed to succeed in global competition due to more lenient policies of their home countries while EU businesses remain subject to disproportionally stricter competition supervision. In the current EU, the call for some subordination of competition decision-making to industrial policy priorities is growing in order to allow EU-based companies to grow through mergers and acquisitions and reach the size necessary for withstanding competitive pressure from non-EU corporate giants. The text maps and evaluates current proposals for changes to the EU merger control regime, advocating maintaining a strong competition policy unsubordinated to industrial policy, however a competition policy which would be more sensitive to its wider context.

Keywords: Control of concentrations of undertakings, globalisation, European Union, China

Suggested Citation

Šmejkal, Václav, EU Control of Concentrations: Update to the Reality of Global Business? (June 11, 2020). Charles University in Prague Faculty of Law Research Paper No. 2020/II/2, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3624825 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3624825

Václav Šmejkal (Contact Author)

Charles University Law Faculty ( email )

Nam. Curieovych 7
Praha, 11640
Czech Republic

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
88
Abstract Views
415
Rank
520,319
PlumX Metrics