Merger Remedies

The following principles should guide competition authorities when devising remedies in merger cases: i) remedies are to be considered only if a threat to competition has been identified; ii) remedies should be the least restrictive means to effectively eliminate competition concerns; iii) remedies should address only competition concerns, and should not be used for industrial planning or other non-competition purposes; and iv) flexibility and creativity are key in devising remedies. Competition authorities in general strongly prefer structural remedies in the form of divestitures even though they might consider behavioural remedies, alone or in conjunction with divestiture remedies, appropriate in certain cases to address competitive concerns raised by a merger. Where several competition authorities consider remedies in the same transaction, coordination and cooperation among them is important to ensure consistency between remedial solutions. Despite differences in substantive tests and procedures, such cooperation and coordination with respect to remedies has been successful in an increasing number of transnational mergers. This Competition Committee roundtable was held in October 2003.