The EU Commission issues guidance on the application of the referral mechanism set out in article 22 of the Merger Regulation expanding its antitrust reviews to non-reportable transactions

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EU Commission, Commission Guidance on the application of the referral mechanism set out in Article 22 of the Merger Regulation to certain categories of cases, Guidelines no. C(2021) 1959 final, 26 March 2021

In Short The Situation: According to the European Commission ("EC"), an increasing number of competitively significant transactions have evaded merger notification because one or both of the transacting parties (but typically a small, high value target) did not meet EC or any Member State filing thresholds. Filing thresholds typically are based on sales in a country. The Result: To address this perceived concern, the EC issued new guidelines ("EC Guidelines") that expand the types of transactions subject to its "upward referral mechanism," which permits EU Member State National Competition Authorities ("NCAs") to refer transactions to the EC for antitrust review. Effective immediately, the EC Guidelines encourage NCAs to refer for EC antitrust review acquisitions involving companies

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Charlotte Breuvart, Eric Barbier de la Serre, Serge Clerckx, Michael A. Gleason, Johannes Zöttl, The EU Commission issues guidance on the application of the referral mechanism set out in article 22 of the Merger Regulation expanding its antitrust reviews to non-reportable transactions, 26 March 2021, e-Competitions March 2021, Art. N° 100152

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