The European Commission recently conducted a public consultation and a targeted consultation aimed at determining whether the Horizontal- and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines remain effective. The consultations, which took place between May 8, 2025 and September 3, 2025, were conducted in an effort to potentially revise the merger guidelines and obtain input on “policy topics related to competitiveness, resilience, efficiency, innovation, sustainability, digitalization, the time horizons, investment intensity of competition in certain strategic sectors, the changed defense and security environment, and other factors.” The Commission sought information from a variety of stakeholders, including labor and consumer organizations, international organizations (e.g. OECD), and professional associations in industries affected by EU merger control, as well as input from key enablers of EU competition law and policy, NGOs and EEA national competition authorities. In keeping with the Commission’s Better Regulation Policy, the Commission was also interested in obtaining scientific research, analysis, and data from academic organizations and scientific associations to ensure that any new proposals were based on the best available knowledge.
Following the consultations, the Commission indicated that a factual summary report will be published on its consultation page along with a synopsis report that will include a summary of the consultation results. The Commission also reported that it plans to publish a draft of the revised Guidelines on DG Competition’s website to seek additional feedback.