Brussels Regulatory Brief: September 2024

ANTITRUST AND COMPETITION

The Court of Justice of the European Union Finds That the European Commission Lacks Jurisdiction to Review Transactions That Fall Below the EU and National Merger Filing Thresholds

On 3 September 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) overturned the judgment of the General Court of 13 July 2022 and annulled the European Commission (Commission) decisions to review a transaction that was not reportable at both EU and national Member State level (Transaction). The Commission's ability to review the Transaction was premised on a radical change in policy in the interpretation of Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation (EUMR) where the Commission "start[ed] accepting referrals from national competition authorities of mergers that were considered worth reviewing at the EU level whether or not those authorities had the power to review the case themselves." On that basis, the Commission first invited and then accepted referral