The EU Merger Regulation: Substantive Issues, 5th Edition

The EU Merger Regulation: Substantive Issues provides a detailed guide to the analysis of mergers by the European Commission.

It examines how the Commission determines whether to approve a notified concentration, presenting the most comprehensive guidance available on the substantive analysis at the heart of EU merger control.

This new edition examines implementation of the reforms to the Merger Regulation originally proposed in the Commission’s 2014 White Paper, as well as discussing all key recent court and Commission decisions.

• Describes how the Commission reaches its decisions under the EU Merger Regulation, discussing why some transactions are blocked, and others cleared
• Explains how the Commission applies fundamental concepts such as market definition and market operation
• Looks at the theories of harm likely to be raised against a merger and possible counter-arguments
• Discusses the categories of evidence canvassed before the Commission
• Considers the implications of significant recent Commission decisions
• Examines key decisions of the European courts
• Considers the important influence of the revised US horizontal merger guidelines
• Assesses the approach of the new Commission appointed in 2014