{"id":25425,"date":"2026-02-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/?p=25425"},"modified":"2026-02-04T15:37:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T15:37:39","slug":"new-study-outlines-a-dynamic-long-term-approach-to-eu-merger-assessments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/new-study-outlines-a-dynamic-long-term-approach-to-eu-merger-assessments\/","title":{"rendered":"New study outlines a dynamic, long-term approach to EU merger assessments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A suggested modernised framework can be a facilitator for growth and broader consumer benefits across many European sectors<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brussels, 5 February 2026: <\/strong>Europe\u2019s merger guidelines need to move beyond their narrow focus on short-term static effects and embrace longer-term considerations, such as innovation, investment and capability building, according to a new report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Dynamic Framework for the Assessment of Horizontal Mergers<\/em><\/a>, prepared by BRG and commissioned by the GSMA with support from Connect Europe, proposes a conceptual framework to support the European Commission\u2019s review of its Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes as the European Commission recognised in last year\u2019s Competitiveness Compass that the existing policy framework needs to evolve to reflect modern dynamics and to allow companies to scale up in global markets, while maintaining a level playing field in the Single Market. The 2024 Draghi report also recommended that innovation, resilience and investment intensity should be given greater weight in merger policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Incorporating dynamic effects<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report identifies several underlying flaws in the current Horizontal Merger Guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include: a highly risk-averse approach that discounts longer-term dynamic effects; the core assumption that mergers are more likely to harm competition than enhance it; the asymmetric treatment of pro- and anti-competitive effects; and the drawback in the current sequencing of analysis, in which efficiencies are treated as offsets to an already-formed theory of harm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address these concerns, the proposed framework in the report introduces a symmetric approach for evaluating adverse and positive effects together in the core competitive assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately, a three-step approach is proposed \u2013 the identification of relevant dimensions of competition which drive consumer welfare in a given industry; the development of a theory of competitive effects <\/em>(and not only harm) <\/em>for each competitive dimension; and the integration of efficiencies into the core competitive assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed framework consists of the following key recommendations for how to update the Commission\u2019s approach to assessing horizontal mergers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n