The Next Chapter in Merger Control: Towards a Dynamic Competition Framework

Launch of the BRG report “A Dynamic Framework for the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers”

The European Commission is currently reviewing its Merger Guidelines to build a more dynamic framework for merger analysis, as Executive Vice President Teresa Ribera announced. This review comes at a crucial time as momentum grows among policy makers and industry executives that competition policy frameworks should be considering wider consumer welfare and societal goals and use a more balanced scorecard to assess  the effect of mergers on consumer welfare that go beyond static price considerations, e.g. increased investment and innovation, and greater quality, resilience, and security.

The event will gather policymakers, industry, academics and the wider competition law community to discuss:

• What economic tools should be used for analysing dynamic effects?
• How could the EU merger guidelines be developed to provide a reliable framework for analysing dynamic effects?

Programme

09:00-09:30| Welcome Coffee and Registration

09:30-09:40| Opening Keynote by Vivek Badrinath, Director General, GSMA

09:40-10:10| Report Presentation
BRG will present the report “A Dynamic Framework for the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers” commissioned by the GSMA, with support from Connect Europe.

Laurent Eymard, Managing Director, BRG
Xavier Boutin, Managing Director, BRG
Mark Williams, BRG affiliate

10:10-11:10| Merger Analysis: a More Dynamic Framework
Competition authorities around the world are wrestling with the challenge of evolving merger analysis beyond traditional static competition considerations. How best should authorities incorporate dynamic effects: how firms innovate, reposition, and restructure in response to technological shifts, demand changes, and financial constraints?

Emanuele Tarantino, Chief Economist, DG Comp, European Commission
Xavier Boutin, Managing Director at BRG
Bruno Jullien, Senior Researcher, CNRS (Toulouse School of Economics)
Judith Arnal, Senior Research Fellow, Elcano Royal Institute and CEPS
Ben Wreschner, Group Regulatory Policy Director, Vodafone

Moderated by Natalie McNelis, Bureau Chief, Mergermarket

11:10-11:30| Networking Break

11:30-11:40| Keynote Framing Remarks: The Case for EU Merger Reform

Alessandro Gropelli, Director General, Connect Europe

11:40-12:40| Modernise the Rulebook: Translating Economic Theory into Practical Guidelines
Europe’s legacy merger framework was designed in an era when EU competitiveness on a global level was not as central as it is today. This panel will explore how the framework needs to be adapted to help address today’s economic challenges, and which parts of the Merger Guidelines in particular need to change to enable the consideration of dynamic elements like, innovation and investments, into the merger analysis.

Daniele Calisti, Head of Unit for Merger Policy and Case Support, DG Comp, European Commission
Mathieu Robilliard, Equity Research Director, Barclays
Annamaria Mangiaracina, Antitrust & Foreign Investment Partner, Linklaters
Gabriel Lluch, General Counsel for Competition and Regulation, Orange
Georg Böttcher, Chief Counsel Competition, Regulatory & Services, Siemens

Moderated by Matthew Newman, Global Chief Correspondent, MLex

12:40-14:00| Networking Lunch

Please note: This is an invitation-only event