Press Release: Mergers: Commission launches public consultation on consolidated guidance concerning jurisdiction in merger control

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on a draft set of guidelines that clarifies the Commission’s current practice with regard to jurisdictional issues in merger control. The new draft Notice consolidates the existing texts and adapts them in the light of recent judgements of the European courts, of the new EU Merger Regulation adopted in 2004 (see IP/04/70 and MEMO/04/9) and of the Commission’s case practice. The overall aim of the new Notice, once adopted, will be to give more precise and user-friendly guidance to parties involved in a merger, takeover or joint venture to establish whether the Commission is competent for an envisaged transaction and so whether a concentration must be notified to the Commission for clearance.