The European Commission Simplifies Its Merger Control Review Process

On April 20, 2023, the Commission adopted the 2023 Merger Simplification Package (the “2023 Package”) designed to streamline its procedure under the EU Merger Regulation.

In particular, the 2023 Package (1) expands the types of concentration eligible for treatment under the simplified procedure, (2) streamlines the review of both simplified and non-simplified cases, and (3) simplifies the notification process.

The simplified procedure in principle enables parties to concentrations to provide less information and obtain a clearance decision faster than under the normal procedure.  Therefore, the Commission’s decision to increase the number of transactions that are eligible for notification under the simplified procedure means that the notifying parties of such transactions will see their costs and time to obtain clearance reduced.  The Commission will also save on resources for those unproblematic cases.  In particular, the new simplified procedure is expected to cover an additional 14% and 19% of all horizontal and vertical transactions respectively.

The 2023 Package will enter into force on September 1, 2023.

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