At a time when international convergence is a key issue in antitrust law, the European Commission (EC) has been consulting on proposals which, if adopted, could result in far-reaching reform of the EU merger control process, governed by the EC Merger Regulation (ECMR).
Recently, the EC has received some criticism for its treatment of mergers, in particular its refusal last summer to clear the GE/Honeywell merger after it had already been cleared in the US and the blocking of Schneider/Legrand and Sidel/Tetra Laval, all of which are currently under appeal.
