Recently, the European Commission (EC) published its
long-awaited new Remedies Notice, explaining its current policies
and procedures on merger remedies. The guidance contains no major
surprises for experienced EU merger practitioners, who will already
be familiar with the recent more rigorous approach adopted by the
EC, but it does signal publicly that the EC does not intend to be a
"soft touch" on remedies.
The EC's own Remedies Study in 2005 was salutary reading. Most
"access" remedies, for example, the release of airport
slots, the making available of infrastructure, or the grant of IP
licenses, justified on the basis of their effect in lowering entry
barriers, had proved generally ineffective in practice, while even
many business divestitures were found to have failed to recreate
effective competition for a number of reasons: delays in
implementation; the approval of inappropriate purchasers; and the
loss of essential ingredients to ensure a viable,
