Court of Justice of European Union Rejects European Commission’s Broad Interpretation of its Merger Review Powers in Landmark Illumina/Grail Judgment
- 04/09/2024
- News
Yesterday, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union set aside the judgment in which the General Court had confirmed the competence of the European Commission to review (and ultimately prohibit) the acquisition of Grail by Illumina and annulled the European Commission’s decisions to accept to review this case following referral requests by France and other Member States (CJEU, judgment of 3 September in Joined Cases C-611/22 P and C-625/22 P).
While it may come too late for this specific transaction – which was undone in June 2024 – this judgment calls into question the European Commission’s approach to concentrations that do not meet the notification thresholds under national and EU merger control regimes.
The attached note explains why.
