Intern
Prof. Dr. Florian Bien

Erschienen: Vers une autorisation "ministérielle" dans la procédure européenne de contrôle des fusions ? Un point de vue allemand

30.07.2019

Editorial in Concurrences N° 2-2019, S. 2 - 7

Aus Anlass des "Franco-German Manifesto for a European industrial policy fit for the 21st Century” vom 19.2.2019 analysiert Bien in seinem Beitrag die deutschen Erfahrungen mit dem Instrument der Ministererlaubnis, erläutert, weshalb der Schutz des Wettbewerbs in aller Regel zugleich auch Allgemeinwohlinteressen wie Arbeitsplatzerhalt, Entstehung nationaler Champions oder Erhalt der Pressevielfalt fördern und diskutiert verschiedene denkbare Modelle, im Rahmen der europäischen Fusionskontrolle eine Art "dritter Phase" einzuführen, die die (transparente) Berücksichtigung nichtwettbewerblicher Erwägungen neben dem Schutz der Wettbewerbsfreiheit erlauben könnte. 

Zum Beitrag geht es hier.

Abstract:

The European Commission, and in particular the Commissioners responsible for competition law, have so far been very successful in countering political influence on their merger control decisions. The prohibition of the Siemens-Alstom merger is the latest proof of this. On the economic front, the European Union has so far done very well with this approach and reform does not seem very desirable. However, it is not clear that merger control in Europe, focusing solely on the objective of protecting competition, can be maintained in the long term. The recent initiative of the French and German Ministers of Economy may reflect a certain degree of general unease about the total exclusion of (industrial) political considerations. The related criticism, which seems to find an even deeper echo in French public opinion than in Germany, must be taken seriously. In these circumstances, it is especially necessary to prevent any political influence behind the scenes. Nor does it seem desirable to reform the control procedure by entrusting the Directorate-General for Competition with the task of weighing simultaneously – and thus mixing – competitive and non-competitive aspects in a single step. Rather, it is to be hoped that the Directorate-General for Competition will continue to carry out an exclusively competitive assessment. If it were really necessary, however, other general interest concerns could be taken into account by a politically responsible authority such as the College of Commissioners. This should be done in a separate and subsequent procedure (“phase III”), such as the German or French ministerial approval procedures.

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