On 28 May 2020, the General Court of the European Union annulled the European Commission’s decision to block the proposed merger between Hutchison 3G UK with its brand “Three” and Telefónica UK with its brand “O2.”

On 17 November 2021 at 15:00 CET, NERA Economic Consulting Senior Consultant Heiner Lindenlaub, Consultant Dr Oliver März, Arnold & Porter Senior Associate Ludovica Pizzetti, and Hengeler Mueller Senior Associate Christoph Wilken discussed the merger enforcement after the General Court’s CK Telecoms judgement.

Motivated by the General Court’s decision in May 2020, the panel will assess how the legal and economic analysis performed by the Commission and the merging parties was affected by the judgement made in CK Telecoms UK Investments v. Commission. The experts addressed a number of questions, such as:

• What is the role of economics in analysing the competitive effects of differentiated product mergers in the aftermath of the General Court’s decision?
• How does the decision affect the way lawyers advise their clients during merger investigations?
• Has the Commission taken the General Court’s criticism into account in its Phase II assessments?
• Do we expect UK and EU merger control standards to become less similar, with the CMA being more open to relying on quantitative economic evidence than the Commission?