Are the EU's draft merger guidelines a significant reset of merger policy? Is the Commission codifying existing practice or charting a more interventionist course? Has the Commission incorporated industrial policy considerations into competitive effects analysis? And what is the playbook for merging parties? Dr. Florian von Schreitter and Johanna Brock-Wenzek from Hogan Lovells join the podcast to discuss the European Commission's draft revised merger guidelines. We discuss conceptual shifts -- extended time horizons for assessing merger benefits, expansion into a merger’s effect on sustainability and resilience, and the removal of numerical safe harbors for vertical mergers -- and the proposed incorporation of new theories of harm -- including entrenchment and ecosystem effects and labor market analysis into the guidelines. But will any of this actually change outcomes? Florian and Johanna begin the podcast’s deep dive into the draft. Links Annotated Transcript of Podcast (https://tinyurl.com/45emxuk7)
Are the EU's draft merger guidelines a significant reset of merger policy? Is the Commission codifying existing practice or charting a more interventionist course? Has the Commission incorporated industrial policy considerations into competitive effects analysis? And what is the playbook for merging parties?
Dr. Florian von Schreitter and Johanna Brock-Wenzek from Hogan Lovells join the podcast to discuss the European Commission's draft revised merger guidelines. We discuss conceptual shifts -- extended time horizons for assessing merger benefits, expansion into a merger’s effect on sustainability and resilience, and the removal of numerical safe harbors for vertical mergers -- and the proposed incorporation of new theories of harm -- including entrenchment and ecosystem effects and labor market analysis into the guidelines. But will any of this actually change outcomes? Florian and Johanna begin the podcast’s deep dive into the draft.
Guest: Dr. Florian von Schreitter
Guest: Johanna Brock-Wenzek
Annotated Transcript of Podcast
(Draft) Guidelines on the assessment of mergers under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (April 30, 2026)
Hogan Lovells “Insights & Analysis” on the Draft Guidelines
Comments of Bilal Sayyed, TechFreedom, In the Matter of Review of the Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, European Commission (September 10, 2025)