Antitrust Chronicle® – EU Merger Guidelines

Dear Readers,

The European Commission’s Draft Merger Guidelines, published on 30 April 2026, are the most significant rewrite of EU merger control since the 2004 Merger Regulation. They fold the Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Guidelines into a single framework, admit a “theory of benefit” alongside the familiar theory of harm, and give innovation, resilience and scale a place in the assessment. Whether that amounts to overdue modernization or a loosening at precisely the wrong moment