Reform Of German ARC – A Paradigm Shift?

The German Parliament has passed the 11th reform of the German Act against restraints of competition (ARC). The reform will take effect soon and has three major components:

• The Federal Cartel Office (FCO) is granted the power to implement behavioural or structural measures if a market investigation reveals a "significant and continuous disruption of competition" ("erhebliche und fortwährende Störung des Wettbewerbs") on a market. Breaking with traditional principles of EU and German competition law the imposition of structural or behavioural measures does not require a violation of competition law by the undertakings concerned.
• The FCO already had the power to impose an obligation on undertakings to notify future concentrations below the usual thresholds, if the market investigation shows objective indications that future concentrations will significantly impede effective competition in a branch of the economy. The reform further strengthens the FCO's powers in