The Draft EU Notice on Horizontal Mergers: A Further Step toward Convergence

Reform of European Merger Policy

“…Nevertheless, it is far better to have guidelines than not to have them, and until very recently they did not exist for DG Comp. Verouden et al (2003) provide a very useful review of the draft EU guidelines in comparison with the US. Since the new guidelines are still in draft form at the time of writing, it is too soon to judge how they will affect practice.…”

“…In practice, they also represent a significant statement of transatlantic convergence in economic approaches. Verouden et al (2003) provide a detailed comparison with the US merger guidelines.…”

“…Recitals are provided at the front of EU legislation as an explanation of the motivation for the legislation that follows. See Verouden et al (2003) for an explanation of this recital by insiders from DG Comp. At the time of writing, there is continuing debate about these "clarifications."…”

Investigating Transatlantic Merger Policy Convergence

“…9 In contrast, opinions on horizontal combinations (as expressed in the respective 'horizontal merger guidelines': FTC (2010), DG Competition (2004)) seem to be rather similar in both competition authorities (for example Verouden et al (2004)). Horlick and Meyer (1995) argue that competition policy convergence is especially noticeable in merger control, because it is in the interest of all countries concerned.…”

“…This time period is a particularly interesting subject for an investigation of this kind, because it includes data prior to and after the 2004 reform of European merger law (ECMR04), 4 which led to an increased use of economic analysis in merger review (the 'more economic approach') and was interpreted as a step towards US policy (for example Verouden et al (2004); Coppi and Walker (2004); Bergman et al (2010b)). The principal research question of this article is whether this perception can be quantitatively substantiated.…”