The Role of the Efficiency Defence in EU Merger Control Proceedings Following UPS/TNT, FedEx/ TNT and UPS v Commission

摘要

The importance of efficiencies - synergies, cost savings -has long been recognised in the context of antitrust review of mergers, whether in the USA, Europe, or other jurisdictions. The use of efficiencies in defence of substantively-problematic mergers, as an antidote to the potential anticompetitive effects of a merger, has a much more chequered history. In Europe, outright denial of the pro-competitive effects of merger-related efficiencies has evolved through a phase of somewhat reluctant acceptance of the theoretical benefits of efficiencies, into what is currently a codified willingness to assess and accept efficiencies in defence of otherwise problematic mergers.