Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe 1993: The New Ec Merger Control Regulation and its Effects on National Merger Control in Germany

After about 2 years of experience, it is to be expected in the long term that the priority of competition policy in Germany will be reflected in the practice of the European Commission. Furthermore, the standards of merger control throughout the European Community (EC) will be largely harmonized even though the national authorities remain free to control mergers with only a national dimension. In the long run, national standards for mergers of minor importance are unlikely to be more rigorous than for those with a European dimension. This prediction will be even stronger if the scope of the merger control regulation is broadened by a reduction of the turnover thresholds of article one in accordance with the wishes expressed by the Commission. Whether the Commission will be able to use article 86 of the EC Treaty to control mergers that do not reach the turnover thresholds in the regulation will be another question of large practical importance that will presumably have to be decided by the European Court of Justice.