On 16 September 2020, in their letter of intent to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ursula von der Leyen and Maroš Šefčovič announced that a review of competition policy would be among the key initiatives of the European Commission for 2021.
On 15 September 2021, in their letter of intent to European Parliament President David Maria Sassoli and Prime Minister Janez Janša, Ursula von der Leyen and Maroš Šefčovič announced that the review of competition policy (“fit for new challenges”) would be among the key new initiatives of the European Commission for 2022.
On 18 November 2021, the Commission published a communication on a competition policy fit for new challenges, detailing the state of play of the on-going review of competition policy tools, which aims to ensure that competition instruments are still fit for purpose. The communication lists 27 initiatives, detailed (with milestones) in a dedicated annex. The initiatives concern antitrust/mergers (e.g. the Commission will update the 1997 Market Definition Notice by Q1 2023) and state aid (e.g. the criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) were reviewed in December 2021).
On 19 November 2021 the Commission launched a public consultation on the revision of the guidelines on state aid for broadband networks. It ended on 11 February 2022. The Commission adopted the revised ‘broadband guidelines’ on 12 December 2022.
On 6 May 2022, the Commission launched a public consultation on a draft revised Merger Implementing Regulation and a draft revised Notice on Simplified Procedure. It ended on 3rd June. From 5 to 19 October 2022, the Commission organised a short targeted additional public consultation on a proposed modification to Article 9 of the Implementing Regulation. The final versions of the revised Merger Implementing Regulation and the Notice on Simplified Procedure were expected in Q2 2022 in the Commission work programme. A package including the revised implementing Regulation, the notice on simplified procedure and a Communication on the transmission of documents was adopted on 20 April 2023, and entered into force on 1st September 2023.
On 10 May 2022, the Commission adopted the new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (‘VBER’) accompanied by the new guidelines on vertical restraints. The revised rules aim to provide companies with simpler, clearer and up-to-date rules and guidance. The new rules will help them to assess the compatibility of their supply and distribution agreements with EU competition rules in a business environment reshaped by the growth of e-commerce and online sales. The revised VBER and Vertical Guidelines entered into force on 1st June 2022.
On 19 January 2022, the Commission launched a call for evidence on the revision of the notice on market definition. It ended on 16 February 2022. The Commission launched on 8 November 2022 a public consultation inviting all interested parties to comment on the draft revised market definition notice. It ended on 13 January 2023. The Commission explained that it was planning to have the new market definition notice in place in Q3 2023. The updated notice was published on 8 February 2024.
Furthermore, the Commission has put forward two proposals for new competition instruments, aiming at addressing the distorsive effects of foreign subsidies in the single market (‘foreign subsidies regulation’, or FSR) and at setting ex ante rules applicable to large digital platforms acting as gatekeepers to ensure contestable and fair digital markets (‘digital markets act’ or DMA). Political agreement between the co-legislators were reached on 30 June 2022 for the FSR and on 25 March 2022 for the DMA (see dedicated carriages).
References:
- Revised Market Definition Notice, 8 February 2024
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/914 of 20 April 2023 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 802/2004
- Commission Notice on a simplified treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings 2023/C 160/01
- Communication from the Commission, Commission notice, Guidelines on vertical restraints, C/2022/4238, 30 June 2022
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/720 of 10 May 2022 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices, C/2022/3015, 10 May 2022
- European Commission, Timeline for State aid policy reviews 2020-2024
- European Commission, Criteria for the analysis of the compatibility with the internal market of State aid to promote the execution of important projects of common European interest, 2021/C 528/02, 30 December 2021
- European Commission, A competition policy fit for new challenges, COM(2021)713, 18 November 2021
- Ursula von der Leyen and Maroš Šefčovič, State of the Union 2021 – Letter of intent to President David Maria Sassoli and Prime Minister Janez Janša, 15 September 2021
- Ursula von der Leyen and Maroš Šefčovič, Letter of Intent to President David Maria Sassoli and to Chancellor Angela Merkel, 16 September 2020
Author: Guillaume Ragonnaud, Members’ Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu
As of 20/04/2024.