On Thursday 20 April, the European Commission adopted a package of measures to simplify merger operations. The aim of this package is to reduce the administrative burden on operators in the area of control of these operations.
The package consists of three elements: a revised Merger Implementing Regulation, a Notice on a simplified procedure and a Notice on the transmission of documents.
The Implementing Regulation will broaden the scope of the European Commission’s review process for mergers subject to what is known as the ‘simplified’ procedure. This simplified procedure, introduced in 2020, can be applied to the treatment of mergers that do not raise competition concerns.
The simplified procedure notice introduces two new categories of operations eligible for simplified procedure review.
Reporting requirements have also been streamlined: the amount of information that companies are required to report in the procedure will be reduced.
In addition, the Notice on a simplified procedure introduces four elements of flexibility providing the European Commission with the discretion to apply the simplified procedure to certain transactions.
In addition, categories of cases eligible for ‘very simplified’ treatment are included in these new rules. Under this procedure, the merging parties will be able to notify the European Commission directly without having to engage in pre-notification exchanges with the Commission.
Finally, according to the European Commission, the revised notification form is also clearer and simpler to complete.
The new rules will come into force from 1 September 2023.
Links to the three documents: https://aeur.eu/f/6ey , https://aeur.eu/f/6f0 , https://aeur.eu/f/6f1 (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)