The European Commission has adopted the first change to its framework for assessing mergers and competition-law cases since 1997.

The commission says that the revised Market Definition Notice brings the guidance into line with new market realities, as well as with developments in how it has dealt with competition cases and EU case law.

The new notice includes specific guidance on assessing digital markets, innovation-intensive industries, and factors involved in defining the geographical scope of a market (local, national, or EEA).

Legal certainty

The EU body describes ‘market definition’ as a tool to identify the boundaries of competition between companies and to assess their market power.

The EU body says that the new guidance will improve transparency and legal certainty for businesses, facilitate compliance, and contribute to more efficient competition enforcement.

“With this thorough review of our guidance, we reinforce important principles of competition enforcement and address new market realities, such as digitalisation and increasingly interconnected and globalised commercial activity,” said Margrethe Vestager (commissioner in charge of competition policy).

“Markets are changing fast, and we need to ensure that our guidance remains fit-for-purpose and effective in response to technological advances,” she added.