EU Antitrust Chief Warns New Merger Rules Won’t Give Dealmakers Carte Blanche

In this episode of The Brussels Beat, Javier Espinoza speaks with Teresa Ribera, the EU commissioner in charge of competition policy, about what to expect in the European Commission’s revamped merger guidelines and tensions with the U.S. over the bloc’s digital rules. They discuss the commission’s planned approach to evaluating deals, which Ribera said will consider economic benefits of a merger but maintain a high standard of proof. They also explore: The debate over whether lax merger control or market fragmentation is getting in the way of European “champions” Why Donald Trump might personally want to get behind the EU’s Digital Markets Act The limits of the commission’s planned “dialogue” with the U.S. on the bloc’s digital rules