Remedies in EU Merger Control - An Essential Guide

Abstract

Remedies are central to understanding EU merger control. They come in many variations - from massive divestitures paving the way for deals such as Bayer / Monsanto to intricate interoperability remedies in cases such as Google / Fitbit - but they all share the same goal: ensuring that mergers do not cause lasting harm to competition.

In spite of their importance, few works discuss remedies in any depth. This work tries to - pardon the pun - remedy this.

It aspires to describe and analyze the contemporary law and practice of remedies in EU merger control. It deals with fundamental questions, such as: have remedies been effective? how are remedies designed and enforced? But it also covers nuts and bolt issues such as fix-it-first remedies, upfront buyer clauses, arbitration clauses and purchaser criteria.

Keywords: competition law, antitrust law, merger control, remedies

JEL Classification: K21