EU Law and Practice Contributed by: Porter Elliott, Catherine Gordley and Niharika Parshurampuria, Van Bael & Bellis
Remedies The Commission will market-test proposed rem - edies in order to ensure that they will resolve the competition concerns at issue and can be imple - mented effectively. The Commission will send third parties a questionnaire and a non-confiden - tial version of the proposed commitments. If the market response is strongly negative, the Com - mission may not accept the remedies offered (see 5.4 Negotiating Remedies With Authori- ties ). 7.3 Confidentiality Form CO requires the parties to supply a non- confidential summary of the transaction, which the Commission will publish in the Official Jour - nal and on its website when the notification is filed. The Commission has a legal obligation not to disclose any confidential information obtained during the course of the merger review process, including during pre-notification, and takes this duty very seriously. 7.4 Co-Operation With Other Jurisdictions The Commission routinely co-operates with member state NCAs and other national compe - tition authorities worldwide. Within the EU/EEA The Commission co-operates with member states through the European Competition Net - work (ECN). It provides the NCAs with copies of notifications, proposed remedies and any other major documents submitted by the parties. The Commission must consult an Advisory Commit - tee made up of NCA representatives before it takes a decision following a Phase II review or any decision imposing fines, but is not bound by the Committee’s opinion. The Commission and
NCAs also participate in an EU Merger Working Group, with the aim of increasing consistency and co-operation in the merger control process. The Commission will also consult the EFTA Sur - veillance Authority where a transaction is likely to have significant effects in the EFTA states. Other Authorities The Commission routinely co-operates with other competition authorities. It must obtain a confidentiality waiver from the parties in order to share information with a non-EEA competi - tion authority. Bilateral co-operation The Commission has entered into a number of co-operation agreements and memorandums of understanding with various competition authori - ties, including those of the USA, Canada, Japan, China, South Korea and Brazil. The EU and UK recently concluded the negotiations for a draft EU–UK Competition Cooperation Agreement fol - lowing Brexit. The degree of co-operation these arrangements envisage varies. The Commission has a very close relationship with the US com - petition authorities (the Federal Trade Commis - sion and the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division), and in practice the authorities try to align their positions where possible, although
divergence does occur. Multilateral co-operation
The Commission also plays an active role in the Merger Working Group of the International Com - petition Network (ICN).
207 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook