June 16, 2026, 17:23 GMT | Insight
Assessing the potential benefits of a merger poses particular problems in France where the government will still have the power to overrule deals on public interest grounds after revised EU guidelines are in place, the head of the French watchdog has said. Europe's merger regulators are digesting a revised EU framework that provides greater scope for companies to explain how the benefits of a merger might outweigh any competition concerns.
Assessing the potential benefits of a merger poses particular problems in France where the government will still have the power to overrule deals on public interest grounds after revised EU guidelines are in place, the head of the French watchdog has said.
“We have to reflect on what belongs to the minister and what belongs to us, and what has to remain political,” Benoît Coeuré, the president of France’s competition authority, told an event
* in Brussels.
Under new guidance from the
European Commission, competition authorities are encouraged to weigh competition concerns stemming from a merger against potential benefits.
Coeuré questioned where the line should be drawn so the new EU approach to merger enforcement review doesn’t politicize decisions in a way that would be harmful. French law allows the government to overrule the competition authority’s decisions for public interest reasons.
The authority would need to balance how to integrate the revised guidelines into its decisions while respecting the particularities of French national law, he said.
The draft EU guidelines, which update the European Commission’s approach to assessing mergers, provide greater scope for companies to explain how benefits flowing from a merger or acquisition might outweigh possible limitations on competition.
The draft guidelines identify various benefits that companies could cite and made a commitment to discuss possible benefits at a much earlier stage in the review.
He welcomed a reform from earlier this year that would reduce the number of deals that would need approval from the national authority. Last year 328 mergers were reviewed by the French watchdog.
“We really [must] focus on what's the most difficult and what's most harmful to competition,” said Coeuré.
Coeuré said the change and the guidelines represented, “a very significant change in the whole procedural and substantial framework for merger control.”
The authority would not like to gain the power to unilaterally review deals that don’t meet the usual criteria, known as call-in powers, he added.
*European Competition Forum Midsummer Meeting, Brussels, June 16-18, 2026.
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