In her 2024 mission letter, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tasked Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, with “modernis[ing] the EU’s competition policy to ensure it supports European companies to innovate, compete and lead world-wide and contributes to our wider objectives on competitiveness and sustainability, social fairness and security.” As the Commission advances its review of the Horizontal and Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines, questions remain as to how sustainability considerations will be integrated into merger assessments under the revised framework.
In a blog post on the Kluwer Competition Law Blog, Analysis Group Vice President Joshua White, Senior Analyst Claire Paoli, and coauthor Jay Modrall (Norton Rose Fulbright) reflect on the implications of this ongoing review. The authors caution that the Commission’s recent public consultation suggests that, rather than expanding the scope for recognising sustainability benefits, the revised Guidelines may further tighten the “efficiency defence.” As a result, they may, paradoxically, disadvantage transactions between firms that advance sustainability objectives despite their potential contributions to advancing the EU’s sustainability goals. “Fortunately,” they write, the EU’s merger review process “provides the Commission considerable flexibility to address EU policy objectives within an updated framework for the consideration of efficiencies.” A more balanced approach, they conclude, would help the Commission deliver on EVP Ribera’s mandate to modernise competition policy in support of the EU’s Clean Industrial Deal.
Associated People
Joshua White
Mr. White is a consulting economist who specializes in applying microeconomics and sophisticated econometric modeling to complex litigation and merger-related questions, primarily in matters involving the health care, financial services, and technology industries. His work across a diverse set of engagements has encompassed simulating consumer demand and switching behavior, analyzing whether intellectual property (IP) licensing rates are FRAND-compliant, and estimating ex ante default probabilities for structured investment vehicles. He also has substantial experience developing innovative technological tools for analyzing datasets for merger and competition analyses.
Mr. White has supported both economic and scientific experts addressing competition and intellectual property (IP) issues in matters related to cutting-edge pharmaceutical products. He has supported clients in various jurisdictions and industries in follow-on cartel damages litigation, assessing overcharge, upstream and downstream pass-on, and volume effects.
Mr. White has worked in a number of international jurisdictions and has served as a testifying expert in the UK’s Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber) on competition matters related to restrictive land covenants. He has also given evidence and submissions to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on behalf of clients involved in market investigations and mergers. Mr. White has supported several clients before the European Commission on cartel and merger matters and has provided support to European financial and competition regulators in coordinated conduct investigations. Mr. White has published a number of articles and regularly speaks at international competition law and policy conferences.