Companies are undermining the review of their mergers by refusing to provide waivers to allow international regulators to discuss their deals, according to a senior EU official.
Companies are undermining the review of their mergers by refusing to provide waivers to allow international regulators to discuss their deals, according to a senior EU official. “I can see there is this trend,” Guillaume Loriot told a conference Friday.* “Paradoxically, I think it makes it difficult for the party, for the companies, rather than for us … I think that is essentially shooting yourself in the foot.”
In an international merger, the companies may allow regulators scrutinizing the deal to swap documents and evidence and discuss their analysis, which may cite confidential information. This is done via a waiver.
Loriot said that giving waivers does not mean that enforcers coalesce around a single view, as there have always been different approaches.
“Exchanging doesn't mean agreeing [but] understanding what each jurisdiction is doing,” said the EU’s deputy director-general responsible for mergers.
“If you can't even understand what the others are doing, I think it's self-defeating for everyone.”
He said that the “reality that we can't really escape is that when there's a deal that affects several jurisdictions, you need to talk and then, if possible, if the issue is the same, find a remedy that makes sense.”
*American Bar Association Antitrust Spring Meeting 2026. Washington, DC. March 25-27, 2026.
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