The General Court raises the bar for the European Commission to block mergers in oligopolistic markets

The General Court’s judgment in CK Telecoms UK Investments Ltd v Commission is likely to have a substantial impact on the ability of the European Commission to find a “significant impediment to effective competition” in mergers involving allegedly oligopolistic markets. This was one of the key aspects of the Commission’s decision to prohibit the proposed “4:3” merger between UK mobile network operators Telefonica Europe Plc (O2) and Hutchison 3G UK (Three) in May 2016.

The judgment contains a number of findings which have potentially wide ramifications for future merger cases. This briefing discusses these ramifications in terms of: (i) the meaning of significant impediment to effective competition; (ii) the legal standard of proof; and (iii) the quality of evidence the Commission must provide to justify its findings.