25/08/2023 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 25 August, the European Commission announced that it had approved the creation of a joint undertaking following a simplified merger control procedure by Ethias NV/SA (Belgium) and the car leasing company Santander Consumer Leasing B.V. (Netherlands), owned by the Santander Group banking group. The resulting entity, Ethias Lease, will develop and provide operational leasing services for green electric vehicles and mobility solutions using electric energy for small and medium-sized enterprises and the public sector in Belgium. The Commission concluded that the merger notified on 31 July would not raise any competition concerns, and that its impact on market structure would be very limited. Link to case: https://aeur.eu/f/8cv (EV)