Proposed transatlantic merger control committee

United Kingdom

European and US officials met in Brussels on 6th October for tentative talks aimed at setting up a regular transatlantic merger control committee. There is already a 1998 EU/US Agreement which gives guidelines on how co-operation can be achieved. At the moment, the competition authorities in both countries can request dawn raids by their counterparts. The aim of the talks is to cover practical issues like the streamlining of investigation techniques, exchanges of confidential information, boosting merger controls and strengthening cartel-busting mechanisms. One key issue will be timing. The Commission is obliged to complete investigations within 5 months but the US authorities are not subject to such time constraints and usually take longer. (European Report No. 2441, 9.10.99)