EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS

Prague, Czechia

EU ANTITRUST: HOT TOPICS & NEXT STEPS 2022

Decision-making on the Authorization of Mergers of Competitors Jan Metelka Charles University Faculty of Law, Department of Theoretical legal sciences, Department of Business law náměstí Curieových 901/7, Prague, 116 40 Czechia e-mail: Jan.metelka@email.cz

Abstract The decision making process of regulators concerning mergers of competition is the main ex ante tool to regulate competition (in other words – to ensure the optimal structure on the market) in order to protect the market, as both abuse of dominant position and cartel law mainly deal with the harm being already done. The aim of this paper is to find out and further describe the key parts of this process, i.e., what is able to influence the decision-making process (and how) and compare what may be stronger arguments made by the competitors in terms of getting the respective merger successfully through the decision making procedure. This is in practice mainly shown by focusing on the main part of the assessment, being the substantive test and its distinctive elements. The secondary aim is to open discussion on the topic of a personal base on competition authorities, requiring to have the necessary economical insight into the potential consequences of a merger, then allowing the authority to effectively question proposals being presented by merging competitors and rationally assess the actual risk for competition. Keywords: antitrust, authorisation, competition, mergers JEL Classification : K210 1. Introduction Competition law plays an important role in the Czech, European, as well as worldwide economics. Both national governments and international organisations (such as EU or UN) have created a framework aiming to level the playing field on the market. This can be in practice generally done by fighting against cartels and other forms of prohibited cooperation between competitors, by imposing specific rules for strong players, trying to keep their dominance in check, and last but not least, by coming up with rules concerning mergers of undertakings as well.

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