EU Merger Control Rules Untested, Say Experts

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

06 May 2005

The EU's amended rules on cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remain relatively untested, despite having been in place for just over a year, competition experts revealed this week.

The new version of the Merger Regulation, put forward by former Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, aimed to introduce more flexibility into the investigation timeframes for mergers, reinforced the 'one stop shop' ethos of the previous Regulation, and clarified that the EC has the power to investigate all types of harmful scenarios in a merger that might harm the interests of European consumers.

However, speaking to the Legal Week news service this week, Herbert Smith competition partner, Stephen Kinsella observed that:

"There is a feeling so far that the procedural changes are working pretty well but there have not yet been many difficult or contentious cases to test the new rules."

Competition partner at Allen & Overy, Alistair Lindsay supported this reading of the situation, telling Legal Week that:

"The new guidelines have been widely welcomed by the market and seem to have led to improved decisions, but it remains fairly early days and everyone is keeping a close eye on developments."

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