Discussing the possible benefits of a merger with EU regulators at an early stage will not prejudge the enforcer’s assessment of whether the deal will lead to harm, according to a top official.
Discussing the possible benefits of a merger with EU regulators at an early stage will not prejudge the enforcer’s assessment of whether the deal will lead to harm, according to the European Commission's deputy director-general for competition.“Some fear that if you bring efficiencies, that would [suggest] there's an issue, that there's a harm with an efficiency,” Guillaume Loriot told a conference Friday.* “It's not the case; that's not the mindset.”
“If you need to look at efficiencies seriously, you need to engage early — and it doesn't prejudge the outcome,” he said.
Some companies fear that pointing to a merger's benefits may imply recognition that a deal may have drawbacks.
The European Commission is currently overhauling its guidelines setting out how it assesses mergers. It will expand the regulator’s position on “dynamic efficiencies,” shedding light on how it will assess the possible benefits of a merger on price, innovation or quality over time.
Loriot said the commission wants to establish an analytical framework that is “objective and fact-based.”
He said there was consensus among stakeholders that the commission’s existing three-pronged test on efficiencies was the correct one. This test requires the efficiencies to benefit consumers, be verifiable and flow directly from the deal.
The burden of proof to show efficiencies would remain on the merging parties, though he said debate would center on how likely those benefits had to be in order to be accepted.
*American Bar Association Antitrust Spring Meeting 2026. Washington, DC. March 25-27, 2026.
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