( July 3, 2026, 09:53 GMT | Official Statement) -- MLex Summary: The European Commission's draft merger guidelines have been backed by competition authorities from seven EU countries who said strong competition, not bigger companies alone, was the key to driving innovation and growth. In a joint statement, the regulators from Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal said they supported recognizing factors such as resilience, sustainability and cross-border integration in merger reviews. They said these should be assessed through rigorous, evidence-based analysis rather than used to justify weaker merger enforcement, and also warned against relaxing rules to favor scale.The statement is attached. ...
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