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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2026

Booking/Etraveli: EU General Court Upholds Commission’s New Template For Digital Merger Control

Mayer Brown
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The EU General Court's landmark Booking/Etraveli judgment validates the European Commission's power to block digital mergers based on entrenchment theories, even without horizontal overlaps or significant market share increases. This watershed ruling arrives alongside new Article 102 Guidelines and draft Merger Guidelines that reshape how dominant platforms must justify acquisitions and demonstrate competitive benefits in ecosystem markets.

BelgiumAntitrust/Competition Law
Christian Horstkotte
Christian Horstkotte
Aymeric De Moncuit
Aymeric De Moncuit
Guillaume De Meersman
Guillaume De Meersman
Tom Nair
Tom Nair
Sarah Wilks
Sarah Wilks
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Introduction

The EU General Court’s (the "Court") judgment in Booking/Etraveli marks a watershed moment for digital merger control in Europe. On 9 September 2026, the Court upheld one of the European Commission’s (the "Commission”) most noteworthy recent merger prohibitions, validating an approach that does not require material market share increments or horizontal overlaps to prohibit a deal. The ruling lands in a broader context of regulatory change: the Commission has simultaneously adopted its first comprehensive guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance and published draft merger guidelines that promise a more receptive approach to pro-competitive consolidation. The Article 102 Guidelines and draft Merger Guidelines provide the framework in which Booking/Etraveli will now be applied – but it is the judgment itself that sets the template. For dealmakers and large firms active in digital markets, the result is a landscape of heightened risk but also greater opportunity for

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