The Commission is not authorised to encourage or accept referrals of proposed concentrations without a European dimension from national competition authorities, where those authorities are not competent to examine the proposed concentrations under their own national law.
This verdict blows a big hole in the merger review toolkit of EU authorities. The judgment will increase the call for new call-in powers for below-threshold mergers from various national competition authorities (who may then review the merger themselves, or refer the case to the European Commission).