Updating Merger Control as an Economic Policy Tool for Europe?

The last formal effort to set out the principles of merger control in Europe was 20 years ago. The European Commission has now announced a wide-ranging consultation to update both the Horizontal and the Vertical Merger Guidelines by 2027. Meantime, the US guidelines have been revised twice (2010 and 2023). 

The EC consultation opens up an overdue discussion on how to reflect into the Guidelines both evolving agency practice (e.g. dealing with digital ecosystems) and the big themes that are now centre stage in the European economic policy debate following the seminal Letta and Draghi reports of 2024. What should be the contribution of merger control to Europe’s growth and productivity mission? How do merger policy and enforcement relate to other key economic policy tools – from industrial policy to trade? How do we think of enforcement in key strategic sectors (defence, cloud and AI, green tech)?

Join us online for a high-level debate with top economists - including current and former agency Chief Economists – on Monday 14 July 2025, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM (CEST) - 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM (BST) - 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM (EDT).

Speakers:

- Emanuele Tarantino, Chief Economist, DG Competition (European Commission)

- Susan Athey, Stanford Graduate School of Business (former Chief Economist, DOJ)

- Jan Eeckhout, Barcelona School of Economics and CEPR

- Paul Heidhues, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics and CEPR

- Florian Ederer, Boston University and CEPR

- Tomaso Duso, DIW Berlin and CEPR

Moderator: Cristina Caffarra, UCL