The European Commission has responded to the humiliating reversal of three of its decisions in high-profile merger cases by effectively disbanding its Merger Task Force. The Competition Commissioner, Mr Mario Monti, announced yesterday that responsibility for merger and antitrust cases will be integrated gradually into directorates dealing with specific business sectors.
Mr Monti suggested the reform was prompted by the prospect of EU enlargement rather than the decision by the European Court of First Instance to overturn three of his decisions on major business mergers.
"The re-organisation paves the way for the Commission to enforce competition law in a union of 25 member-states and will raise the standards of our enforcement activity across the board. It will spread the best practice developed by the Merger Task Force throughout the Department, whilst better exploiting the specific sectoral expertise of the antitrust units," he said.
"Most importantly, it will establish a sound basis for our co-operation with national competition authorities."
Mr Monti came under fire after the court in Luxembourg reversed the Commission's decision to block the mergers of travel firms Airtours and First Choice, electronic giants Schneider and Legrand, and packaging firms Tetra Laval and Sidel.
The court found the Commission's analysis of the potential impact of the mergers was inadequate and that a persuasive case against the mergers had not been made.
The Commission is the central authority for guaranteeing fair competition within the EU and can prevent mergers, break up cartels and prohibit state aid to businesses. Companies can appeal merger decisions to the European court but, in many cases, the decision to overturn a merger prohibition has come too late to prevent companies from going out of business.
The reform announced yesterday allows a smaller Merger Task Force to co-ordinate action on mergers but most decisions will be prepared by officials specialising in the sector to which the companies under examination belong.
