Brussels, February 3, 2026 — The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) will host a high-level conference in Brussels on March 5 to examine key aspects of the ongoing review of the EU Merger Guidelines, as the Commission seeks to adapt merger control to evolving market realities.
The one-day, in-person event, titled “Shaping the Future of EU Merger Control,” will bring together competition authorities, academics, consumer representatives and corporate counsel to discuss how EU merger policy should respond to challenges linked to innovation, sustainability and the cost of living.
The discussions will inform the Commission’s review of the Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, ensuring that the EU merger control framework remains effective and fit for purpose. The conference will open with remarks from Linsey McCallum, acting Director-General for Competition, and Emanuele Tarantino, the Commission’s Chief Competition Economist. Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera is scheduled to close the event.
The agenda is structured around three broad themes. The first session will focus on the role of EU merger control in driving productivity and innovation in the Single Market. Speakers are expected to include Andreas Mundt, president of the Bundeskartellamt, alongside representatives from BioNTech, Mistral AI, and Nord Security.
A second session will examine how mergers can contribute to a more sustainable Europe, with panelists from academia, national competition authorities, and industry discussing how sustainability considerations intersect with merger assessments. Participants will include Martijn Snoep, chair of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets, as well as legal representatives from Siemens and Solvay.
The third session will address mergers and the cost of living, with a particular focus on price effects, labor market impacts, and broader societal consequences. Speakers will include officials from Portugal’s competition authority, BEUC, and the European Trade Union Confederation, alongside corporate antitrust specialists.
In the afternoon, the conference will move into three parallel break-out sessions aligned with the main themes. Each participant will be assigned to one session, with discussions expected to feed into a final plenary exchange summarizing key takeaways.
The conference forms part of a broader consultation process launched by the Commission in May 2025, which included both a general and an in-depth consultation on the Merger Guidelines. DG COMP has also held stakeholder workshops in December 2025 and January 2026.
The Commission has said the objective of the review is to deliver a modern, comprehensive, and predictable merger control framework applicable across sectors, while preserving the core mission of EU merger control: safeguarding a competitive internal market that delivers innovation, affordable prices, and high-quality products.
