EU Law Newsletter (December 2023)

1. Sustainability Considerations in EU Merger Control

On 10 September 2023, European Commission's (EC) DG Competition made public its approach to sustainability in EU merger control from various angles including market definition, competitive assessment, remedies and vigilance on "green" killer acquisitions. The EC further elaborated on several recent cases as an illustration of how these tools are applied in recent merger enforcement. The wider context here is the EC's key goal of transitioning towards a climate neutral, resourceefficient and competitive economy as part of the 'green transition' and the EC's European Green Deal.¹

Market Definition

Stronger demand by consumers, businesses, and society as a whole for more sustainable products and sustainability-related targets has prompted the EC to take sustainability considerations increasingly into account when defining relevant markets. In recent cases, the EC has on many occasions looked into