Directorate-General for Competition
The Directorate-General for Competition is a Directorate-General of the European Commission, located in Brussels. The DG Competition employs around 900 officials. 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 "in cooperation with national competition authorities." 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 United States [Department of Justice Antitrust Division|Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice]. However, it operates with more independence than either American counterpart, being "structurally more insulated from political and lobbying pressures." Between 1990 and 2025, DG COMP imposed a total of 30 billion euros in fines for cartel infringements after court adjustments.
History
20th century
In 1989, with the passing of Merger Regulation, DG COMP gained the ability to investigate mergers.In 1997, DG COMP clashed with the United States Department of Justice over the Boeing–McDonnell Douglas merger. DG COMP did not approve the deal until concessions were made.
21st century
2000s
In July 2001, DG COMP prohibited GE from acquiring Honeywell due to dominant positions in several markets including jet engines. Although they worked together during the investigation, their opinion once again diverged with the DOJ.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.
In June 2008, a settlement procedure was introduced for cartels with the aim of decreasing the duration and costs of investigations.
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. The average fine increased from less than 20 million euros by more than a factor of 15 from 2000 to 2008.
2010s
From 2010 to 2019, the Commission imposed a total of 28.5 billion euros in cartel, antitrust, and merger fines. During the same period, the DG Competition blocked nine out of 3,000 reviewed mergers.In July 2016, four European truck manufacturers agreed to pay the European 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 1 billion euros, more than Volvo/Renault, Iveco or DAF. MAN SE was exempted for revealing the cartel to authorities and Scania was fined later after further investigation by DG COMP.
2020s
In January 2022, DG COMP prohibited South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings' take-over of South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, a rival in large LNG carrier construction. Europe represented about half of the market demand for such carriers at the time. In September, DG COMP prohibited US genomics company Illumina from acquiring US healthcare company Grail. Illumina's remedies were deemed insufficient and the company prematurely confirmed the acquisition before the EU's approval. The FTC also blocked the acquisition, leading Illumina to divest in 2023.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.
Following is a table categorizing the EU's merger interventions from December 2019 to October 2024: