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ARTICLE · 05 FEBRUARY 2019

Irish Competition Law: What To Expect In 2019

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While last year was characterised by a record number of merger notifications to the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the CCPC),

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Kate McKenna
Kate McKenna
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While last year was characterised by a record number of merger notifications to the Irish Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (the CCPC), 2019 will likely mark a shift in focus towards more competition enforcement.1

There are two principal drivers for this:

  • First, revised merger notification thresholds, which took effect from 1 January 2019 2,  (see: previous news article) are expected to reduce the number of notifications to the CCPC by up to 40%.  The CCPC has also consulted on a proposal to introduce a simplified process for those mergers that will still meet the new financial thresholds but do not give rise to material overlaps.  Both of these initiatives will significantly reduce the volume of merger work the CCPC undertakes, releasing staff to focus on competition enforcement.

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