The European Commission is preparing the most significant relaxation of EU merger rules in over two decades, aiming to help European companies scale up to compete with US and Chinese rivals, according to draft guidelines seen by the Financial Times. Brussels will give greater weight to "innovation, investment and resilience of the internal market" when deciding whether to approve deals, broadening the criteria that since the 2000s had focused primarily on the effect of mergers on consumers (pricing power and choice). An EU official called the guidelines "a break from the past" and "an ambitious approach that reflects the realities of increasingly challenging global competition".

The draft keeps effective competition as the core objective but notes that "the growth and scaling-up of firms... so as to reach the necessary size to compete globally, can be pro-competitive" and can have a "positive impact" on the EU. Citing a changed geopolitical context, the document argues the economy has "shifted towards more innovation-heavy sectors where both scale and innovation are critical to compete". The antitrust division is asked to pay closer attention to "scale, innovation, investment and resilience as pro-competitive factors that can benefit from a degree of consolidation".

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has championed this "new approach" supporting companies "scaling up in global markets". Resistance is coming from some liberal member states and parts of the Commission worried that looser rules would hurt innovation, dampen investment, and force consumers to pay more. Dealmakers and investors have long anticipated the reforms, which could unlock consolidation across European industries. The Commission declined to comment. Source: Financial Times, 16 April 2026, Barbara Moens.