Possible Reform of Competition Law: Food for Thought To Improve the Interplay Between Merger Control and Other EU Policies

The EU political landscape has evolved significantly over the last months, notably based on a renewed perception of external challenges facing the Union. This has triggered an intensified and refocused policy and legislative production, in particular on strategic topics and industrial policy. Ensuring a better interplay between EU merger control rules and such EU policies is therefore more justified than ever. This could in our view be done by drawing inspiration from the Important Project of Common European Interest concept (IPCEI) and by amending the EU Merger Control Regulation to allow positive contributions to EU policies to be taken into account as efficiencies. This would improve collegial work within the Commission and would reinforce the consistency of decisions with other EU policies without significantly modifying the framework or process of assessment of cases. A couple of additional proposals are also made concerning State aid rules, in particular with respect to research and development activities and IPCEIs.