New Law: More and more administrative paperwork, just to control ....

Introduction of a new regulation in European competition law since last Dec, 2023: Stricter controls on merger and acquisition operations due to foreign subsidies...

This new rule is all about keeping things fair in the European Union. You see, there was a bit of a problem with some companies getting a boost from outside the EU, while others didn't. So, the European Commission decided to step in. It all started with a big disagreement over the Alstom-Siemens merger in 2019. That got people talking about how we need to change the rules to fit the global economy better, especially with big companies from China getting involved.

Now, here's the simple version: under the new rule, if a company in the EU gets a big financial help from a non-EU country in the last three years, they gotta tell the European Commission about it. It's like a heads-up for when they're doing big deals or buying stuff from the government. And get this, even if it's not a crazy amount of money, the Commission can still check it out to make sure everything's fair.

Basically, the goal is to make sure everyone plays by the same rules in the EU. By shining a light on outside help, the European Commission wants to stop anything that could mess with how fair the competition is. It's like having a referee in a game, making sure nobody cheats. So, cheers to a level playing field in the EU!