The European Commission’s Draft Merger Guidelines: Considerations For Technology, Pharmaceutical, And Life Sciences

On 30 April 2026, the European Commission (the Commission) published its Draft Merger Guidelines (the Draft Guidelines) for public consultation. The Draft Guidelines are intended to replace the 2004 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2008 Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines with a single, consolidated framework for the assessment of concentrations under the EU Merger Regulation. The consultation is open until 26 June 2026, and the final text is expected to be adopted in Q4 2026.

The substantive legal test is unchanged, namely the Commission must assess whether a concentration would significantly impede effective competition (SIEC), in particular through the creation or strengthening of a dominant position. The Draft Guidelines, however, articulate the Commission’s analytical framework in a more explicit and forward-looking manner, drawing on two decades of decisional practice and case law from the EU Courts. In doing so, they bring greater prominence to themes that have animated