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Directorate-General for Competition

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Directorate-General for Competition
Agency overview
JurisdictionEuropean Union
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
Employees888 (2025)
Agency executives
  • Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President
  • Linsey McCallum, (ACTING) Director-General and Deputy Director-General
  • Guillaume Loriot, Deputy Director-General
  • Anthony Whelan, Deputy Director-General
Websitehttps://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/competition_en

The Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, located in Brussels. The DG Competition employs around 900 officials.[1] It is responsible for establishing and implementing competition policy for the European Union. It enforces Articles 101-106 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) "in cooperation with national competition authorities."[2] DG Competition is considered to be one of the most sophisticated antitrust enforcers in the world, alongside the United States Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice.[3] However, it operates with more independence than either American counterpart, being "structurally more insulated from political and lobbying pressures."[4] Between 1990 and 2025, DG COMP imposed a total of 30 billion euros in fines for cartel infringements after court adjustments.[5]

History

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20th century

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In 1989, with the passing of Merger Regulation (4064/1989), DG COMP gained the ability to investigate mergers.[6][7]

In 1997, DG COMP clashed with the United States Department of Justice over the Boeing–McDonnell Douglas merger.[6] DG COMP did not approve the deal until concessions were made.[8]

21st century

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2000s

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In June 2000, DG COMP blocked MCI Worldcom's USD 115 billion acquisition of Sprint Corporation in conjunction with the Department of Justice.[9][10] It would have been the biggest deal of its kind ever up to that point.[11]

In July 2001, DG COMP prohibited GE from acquiring Honeywell for USD 42 billion due to dominant positions in several markets including jet engines.[12] Although they worked together during the investigation, their opinion once again diverged with the DOJ.[13][14]

In January 2003, after the 2002 annulment by the Court of First Instance of a 2001 decision, the commission cleared Tetra Laval's acquisition of Sidel.[15][16]

In 2003, DG COMP created a chief economist position directly under the director general to lead a team of 20 economists. Between 2003 and 2004, merger units for multiple sectors were integrated into antitrust teams.[6]

In June 2007, the commission prohibited Ryanair's takeover of Aer Lingus, a situation which would repeat itself in 2013.[17][18][19]

In June 2008, a settlement procedure was introduced for cartels with the aim of decreasing the duration and costs of investigations.[20] In November, Asahi, Pilkington, Saint-Gobain and Soliver were fined a record 1.3 billion euros for forming a car glass cartel.[21][22] The General Court would later reduce Pilkington and Saint-Gobain's fines.[23]

In May 2009, Intel was fined 1.06 billion euros for anticompetitive practices in the central processing unit market.[24] The fine was overturned in court, and the commission proceeded to re-impose a downsized fine on the company.[25][26]

DG COMP's fines on corporations climbed from 3.4 billion euros between 2000 and 2004 to 9.4 billion euros between 2005 and 2009.[27] The average fine increased from less than 20 million euros by more than a factor of 15 from 2000 to 2008.[4]

2010s

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From 2010 to 2019, the commission imposed a total of 28.5 billion euros in cartel, antitrust, and merger fines.[28] During the same period, the DG Competition blocked nine out of 3,000 reviewed mergers.[29]

The following table lists the cartel fines exceeding 1 billion euros throughout the decade:

Year Institutions fined Total fine (Euro) Market Fined parties Exempted parties References
2012 7 1.47 billion Cathode ray tube LG Electronics, Philips, Samsung SDI, Panasonic, Toshiba, MTPD (a Panasonic subsidiary), Technicolor (formerly Thomson) Chunghwa [30][31]
2013 6 1.49 billion Derivative (finance) Deutsche Bank, RBS, Société Générale, Citigroup, JPMorgan, RP Martin Barclays, UBS [32]
2016 4 2.9 billion Truck Daimler, Volvo/Renault, Iveco, DAF MAN SE [33][34]
2019 5 1.07 billion Foreign exchange spot Barclays, RBS, Citigroup, JPMorgan, MUFG UBS [35]

In 2013, Aegean Airlines's rejected 2011 acquisition was approved due to Olympic Air's imminently anticipated financial decline due to Greece's economic conditions.[36][37]

In May 2016, the commission prohibited Hutchison's 10.3 billion pound acquisition of O2.[38][39] In July, four European truck manufacturers agreed to pay the commission a record 2.9 billion euros for "price increases, timing for the introduction of new emissions technologies and the passing on to customers of the costs for the emissions technologies." Daimler was fined the most, at 1 billion euros. MAN SE was exempted for revealing the cartel to authorities.[5][33] Scania did not settle, and was fined a year later after further investigation by DG COMP.[40] Its fine was higher than those of Volvo/Renault, Iveco or DAF.[34] In August, the commission deemed that Ireland's 13 billion euros in tax benefits to Apple were illegal under EU law and had to be recovered.[41][42]

In March 2017, the commission blocked a 21 billion pound merger between the European stock exchange operators Deutsche Börse and London Stock Exchange.[43][44] In June, Google was fined 2.42 billion euros for illegally advantaging Google Shopping through its search engine.[45][46]

In July 2018, the commission fined Google a record 4.34 billion euros for antitrust violations. These activities included manufacturer software pre-installation requirements, exclusive pre-installation payments, and unapproved Android fork prevention.[47][48]

In February 2019, the commission prohibited Germany's Siemens from acquiring France's Alstom.[49] The decision drew criticism from France's Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire.[50]

2020s

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In September 2022, DG COMP prohibited genomics company Illumina from acquiring healthcare company Grail. Illumina's remedies were deemed insufficient and the company prematurely confirmed the acquisition before the EU's approval.[51] The FTC also blocked the acquisition, leading Illumina to divest in 2023.[52] The EU Court of Justice later ruled that the commission overstepped.[53]

In 2023, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager drew criticism for selecting Professor Fiona Scott Morton of Yale University, former chief economist of the Obama Administration, as Chief Competition Economist of DG COMP. Both her American nationality and consulting work for Big Tech came under fire by EU leaders, leading her to turn down the position.[54]

In March 2024, Apple was fined 1.8 billion euros for "anti-steering provisions" in relation to music subscriptions on the App Store.[55] Apple criticized the decision for benefiting Spotify, which held a majority market share in Europe.[56]

Following is a table categorizing the EU's merger interventions from December 2019 to October 2024:[57]

Transaction Count Status Stage Conditions
41 Approved Phase 1 investigation with remedies
17 Approved Phase 2 investigation with remedies
3 Approved Phase 2 investigation without remedies
7 Abandoned during review without Statement of Objections
5 Abandoned during review with Statement of Objections
3 Prohibited

In September 2025, the commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros for "favouring its own online display advertising technology services."[58][59]

Official merger prohibitions

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For acquisitions, the acquiring party is in bold.

# Year FIrms Headquarters locations Type Entity name Market Reference
1 1991 Aerospatiale-Alenia France Acquisition Regional turbo-prop aircraft [60]
de Havilland Canada
2 1994 Bertelsmann Germany Joint venture MSG Media Service Television, Other communication services [61]
Kirch
Deutsche Telekom
3 1995 Norsk Telekom Norway Joint venture Nordic Satellite Distribution Satellite transmission services, Distribution services [62]
TeleDanmark Denmark
Kinnevik Sweden
4 1995 RTL4 Luxembourg Joint venture Holland Media Group TV advertising and production [63]
Veronica Netherlands
Endemol Netherlands
5 1996 Gencor South Africa Merger Impala Platinum, Lonrho Platinum Division Platinum group [64]
Lonrho Great Britain
6 1996 Kesko Finland Acquisition Daily consumer goods [65]
Tuko
7 1996 Société Européenne des Produits Réfractaires France Joint venture Silicon carbide [66]
Elektroschmelzwerk Kempten GmbH Germany
NOM Netherlands
8 1997 Blokker Netherlands Acquisition Toys [67]
Toys "R" Us United States
9 1997 Bertelsmann AG Germany Merger Premiere Digital Digital pay television [68][69]
Kirch Group
10 1998 Deutsche Telekom Germany Merger BetaResearch Encryption technology [70]
BetaTechnik
11 1999 Airtours Great Britain Acquisition Leisure travel services [71]
First Choice
12 2000 Scania Sweden Acquisition Heavy trucks, Buses, Touring coaches [72]
Volvo
13 2000 MCI Worldcom United States Merger Internet [9]
Sprint
14 2001 General Electric United States Acquisition Aero-engines, Avionics [73]
Honeywell
15 2001 Tetra Laval Netherlands Acquisition SBM machines [15]
Sidel France
16 2001 Schneider Electric France Acquisition Electrical equipment [74]
Legrand
17 2004 ENI Italy Acquisition Electricity, Gas [75]
EDP Portugal
GDP Portugal
18 2007 Ryanair Ireland Acquisition Short-haul flights [17]
Aer Lingus
19 2011 Olympic Air Greece Merger Air transport [36]
Aegean Airlines
20 2013 UPS United States Acquisition Express delivery of small packages [76]
TNT Express Netherlands
21 2013 Ryanair Ireland Acquisition Short-haul flights [18]
Aer Lingus
22 2016 Hutchison 3G Great Britain Acquisition Mobile network [38]
O2 UK
23 2017 Deutsche Börse Germany Merger Clearing of fixed income instruments [43]
London Stock Exchange Great Britain
24 2019 Siemens Germany Acquisition Railway and metro signalling systems, Rolling stock [49]
Alstom France
25 2019 Wieland-Werke Germany Acquisition Rolled copper [77]
Aurubis
26 2019 Thyssenkrupp Germany Joint Venture Steel [78]
Tata Steel India
27 2022 Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings South Korea Acquisition Large liquefied gas carriers [79][80]
Daewoo Shipbuilding
28 2022 Illumina United States Acquisition Early cancer detection tests [81]
GRAIL
29 2023 Booking United States Acquisition Hotel online travel agencies [82]
eTraveli Sweden

See also

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References

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  2. ^ "Competition". European Commission. 2026-01-28. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
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  5. ^ a b "Cartels cases and statistics - Competition Policy". European Commission. Retrieved 2026-01-30.
  6. ^ a b c Aydin, U., & Thomas, K. P. (2012). The Challenges and Trajectories of EU Competition Policy in the Twenty-first Century. Journal of European Integration, 34(6), 531–547. https://doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2012.707359
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