”Antitrust Code” is a podcast series that aims to decode antitrust law and policy. Concurrences guests discuss the latest news and topical issues in competition law and economics around the world.
Episodes
Wednesday Jun 10, 2026
Wednesday Jun 10, 2026
In this new episode Charles Beller (U.S. Department of Justice) and Ricardo Zimbron (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton) closed the International Merger Conference that occurred in London on the 4th of June 2026.
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DOCUMENTATION
Key takeaways of Charles Beller (U.S. Department of Justice) and Ricardo Zimbron (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton) speech "Merger Control Policy Shifts and the Role of Efficiencies in the US Framework":
- Merger enforcement in the US is driven primarily by competitive effects analysis rather than formal efficiency offsets.
- Efficiencies are still considered, but they do not operate as a standalone legal defence against anticompetitive harm.
- The 2023 Merger Guidelines aim to align enforcement practice more closely with established case law and judicial precedent.
- Courts ultimately decide cases, meaning agencies must prove harm before a neutral fact-finder rather than rely solely on guidelines.
- Efficiencies may still matter as part of rebutting a prima facie case, but they rarely determine outcomes alone.
- The US system prioritises litigation strategy and evidentiary burden over guideline-driven decision-making.
- Enforcement remains focused on dynamic competitive effects, including entrenchment and barriers to entry in evolving markets.
- Recent policy shifts reflect continuity in analytical tools, but differences in how they are applied depending on the Administration.
Tuesday Jun 09, 2026
Tuesday Jun 09, 2026
In this new episode, Annemiek Wilpshaar (DG COMP), Joel Bamford (UK CMA) and Jackie Holland (Cleary Gottlieb) opened the International Merger Conference that occurred in London on the 4th of June 2026.
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DOCUMENTATION
Olivier Guersent, More competitiveness with less competition… seriously?, 1 June 2026, Concurrences N° 6-2026, Art. N° 135190
Peter Alexiadis, Konstantinos Lampropoulos, EU competition policy through an industrial policy lens: Adapting to the post-Draghi world, 1 January 2026, Concurrences N° 1-2026, Art. N° 130944
Key takeaways of Joel Bamford (UK CMA) and Jackie Holland (Cleary Gottlieb) speech "CMA Merger Guidance Update – Efficiency, Innovation, and Convergence with EU Approach":
-* The update is part of a broader 18-month programme focused on clarity, predictability, and pace, covering process, remedies, and now efficiencies.
-* The core legal test is unchanged: efficiencies must be merger-specific, timely, likely, and sufficient to offset anti-competitive effects, supported by verifiable evidence.
-* The guidance provides more detail on how efficiencies are assessed in practice, with more examples and earlier engagement encouraged from pre-notification onwards.
-* Dynamic efficiencies fit within the existing framework, but with explicit recognition that benefits may materialise later, calibrated to innovation cycles.
-* Merger specificity is assessed against what is commercially rational, not merely theoretically possible.
-* Firms feared that raising efficiencies would cause harm or risk an efficiency offence; the guidance normalises early engagement and confirms that such offence cases are rare.
-* Entrenchment, portfolio effects, and ecosystem theories are familiar concepts reframed, with outcomes driven by case-specific evidence.
-* The CMA reviewed Booking/eTraveler on similar theories to the EC but reached a different outcome, showing that a shared framework does not guarantee identical results.
-* The CMA uses Relevant Customer Benefits to consider wider sustainability and resilience outcomes, but stresses that firm, market, and supply chain resilience are distinct concepts.
-* The UK's public interest intervention test provides a separate route for non-competition considerations, applied in banking and during the COVID pandemic.
-* The CMA maintains close working relationships with the EC, DOJ, FTC, and other global agencies, with regular bilateral engagement well beyond major conferences.
Key takeaways of Annemiek Wilpshaar (DG COMP) speech "RETHINKING MERGER GUIDELINES IN A CHANGING GLOBAL COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE":
EU Merger Guidelines – Modernisation, Efficiency, and New Theories of Harm
-* The update reflects 20+ years of case practice and responds to the Draghi/Letta reports on Europe's competitiveness and productivity gap.
-* The core objective is to help European companies scale up and compete in global markets, not just to update enforcement rules.
-* New guidelines shift from a static, category-based approach to a more dynamic, forward-looking framework centred on market power and rival reactions.
-* For the first time, the Commission explicitly signals that "big is not bad" and that mergers can generate pro-competitive benefits.
-* A new "theory of benefits" concept requires parties to substantiate efficiency claims with concrete economic mechanisms rather than general statements.
-* Direct efficiencies (immediate cost savings, quality gains) are distinguished from dynamic efficiencies (longer-term innovation benefits), with more flexibility on timing and quantification for the latter.
-* Entrenchment concerns apply only to dominant firms in markets with network effects or customer inertia, where the acquired asset is closely related to the dominant firm’s product and important to effectively compete and unique.
-* Portfolio effects now cover brand loyalty, customer overlap, and cross-product negotiation behaviour (Mars/Kellanova).
-* Access to commercially sensitive data is confirmed as a standalone theory of harm (UMG/Downtown).
-* Early engagement is strongly encouraged, particularly on innovation-related claims, as the underlying evidence typically sits with the merging parties.
-* International coordination with agencies such as the ICN and OECD is routine, especially on global markets, remedies, and purchaser alignment.
Tuesday Apr 07, 2026
Tuesday Apr 07, 2026
In this new episode, Bernardus Smulders (Court of Justice of the European Union) and Jérôme Philippe (Freshfields) opened the Private Enforcement in the EU Conference that occurred in Paris on the 2nd of April 2026.
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Key takeaways of Bernardus Smulders (Court of Justice of the European Union) speech "Recent CJEU Case Law on Private Enforcement: Structure, Limits and Emerging Trends":
- The Court’s case law structures private enforcement around four key areas: third-party funding, limitation periods, jurisdiction and applicable law, and access to evidence.
- On third-party litigators, the Court holds that national rules cannot block claim assignments where no effective alternative exists and individual actions are excessively difficult.
- On limitation periods, the Court requires that time limits do not start before the infringement has ended and before the victim can reasonably know the key elements of the claim.
- In Nissan, the Court clarifies that the limitation period starts only once the national authority’s decision becomes final, since only then does it bind national courts.- On jurisdiction, the Court adapts traditional rules to collective and digital cases by allowing courts to rely on the affected market as a whole.
- In multi-defendant cases, jurisdiction can be centralized if claims are closely connected in order to avoid inconsistent judgments.
- On access to evidence, the Court introduces a flexible plausibility test that requires a credible claim while preventing abusive disclosure requests.
- Overall, the case law shows a consistent reliance on the principle of effectiveness and a growing role of the Court in clarifying gaps in EU legislation.
Friday Feb 20, 2026
Friday Feb 20, 2026
In this new episode, Mark R. Meador (U.S Federal Trade Commission) gave a keynote speech during the Tech Antitrust Conference that occurred in Palo Alto on the 15th of January 2026.
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Key takeaways of Mark Meador speech Innovation and Antitrust: Bridging the Silicon Valley–Washington Divide
- Both DC and Silicon Valley operate within their own “bubbles,” which creates mutual misunderstanding and leads each side to see the other as either obstructionist or naïve.
- The debate is often reduced to a false binary of regulation versus innovation, instead of evaluating each case on its merits.
- Not all regulation is harmful and not all innovation is beneficial, so the focus should be on distinguishing wise innovations from harmful ones.
- Technology’s promise has not always translated into societal benefit, as the internet democratized knowledge but much of its use has become passive consumption (e.g., short-form video).
- AI represents a pivotal inflection point, with the potential to drive breakthroughs in medicine, science, and defense or to deepen social harm and mistrust if left unchecked.
- Antitrust enforcement is crucial because competitive markets drive better innovation and prevent the concentration of power that undermines consumer welfare.
- Acqui-hire practices pose a real competitive threat, as large firms may acquire startups primarily to commandeer talent and reduce competition, creating “buy and kill” dynamics.
- Antitrust law is not outdated—its principles remain applicable, but the challenge is applying them effectively in real-time with modern market data and economic insights.
- Enforcement must follow “regular order,” with predictable, fair, and transparent processes to avoid politicized or arbitrary enforcement.
- The shared mission is serving the American public, and both regulators and tech companies must build trust and show how their actions benefit ordinary people, not just elites.
DOCUMENTATION
Justin P. Murphy, Trump 2.0 : What to expect in antitrust enforcement, 4 February 2025
Tuesday Jan 27, 2026
Tuesday Jan 27, 2026
In this new episode, Peter Mucchetti & Timothy Lyons (Clifford Chance) interview Daniel Guarnera (U.S. Federal Trade Commission) during the Tech Antitrust Conference that occurred in Palo Alto on the 15th of January 2026.
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DOCUMENTATION
Justin P. Murphy, Trump 2.0 : What to expect in antitrust enforcement, 4 February 2025
Wednesday Jan 21, 2026
Wednesday Jan 21, 2026
In this new episode, Stavroula Vryna (Clifford Chance) interviews Gustavo Augusto Freitas de Lima (CADE) before the Tech Antitrust Conference that occured in Palo Alto on the 15th of January 2026.
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DOCUMENTATION
Friday Nov 14, 2025
Friday Nov 14, 2025
In this new episode, Aleksander Tombiński (Clifford Chance) and Elena Zoido (Compass Lexecon) Interview Cani Fernández Vicién (Spanish Competition Authority) before the Antitrust Horizon: Meet the Enforcers workshop.
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If you would like to read about this topic, you can access the following Concurrences documents. If you do not have access, please inquire for Subscription.
Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Thursday Aug 07, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with Antonio Capobianco (OECD) and Ariel Ezrachi (University of Oxford) on the key themes explored in the Compendium of International Cartels book, published by Concurrences. In this insightful conversation, they examine algorithms and collusion, exploring how algorithms may facilitate tacit or explicit coordination, and examining why enforcement remains limited and what challenges regulators face in addressing algorithmic collusion.
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Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with Despina Pachnou (OECD) and Maria Jaspers (European Commission) on the key themes explored in the Compendium of International Cartels book, published by Concurrences. In this insightful conversation, they examine leniency programs, exploring both their usefulness in detecting cartels and the challenges associated with them.
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Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Tuesday Jul 08, 2025
Join us for an engaging discussion with Ori Schwartz (OECD), editor of Compendium of International Cartels, and Juliette Enser (CMA) on the key themes explored in the book, published by Concurrences. In this insightful conversation, they examine international cooperation and how to enhance enforcement and improve cooperation in cartel investigations.
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Explore the full scope of their analysis by visiting the book’s page on Concurrences.
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