Liberty Global/Vodafone merger II

26.11.2018

Question for written answer E-005941-18
to the Commission
Rule 130
Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE)

The proposed merger involving Vodafone Group and Liberty Global subsidiary companies in a number of EU Member States is currently under review by the Commission in a merger clearance procedure.

The German competition authority is endeavouring to examine the part of the transaction concerning the German market in the light of German competition rules. Clearly, the transaction relates to all four Member States concerned as a whole, and will come into effect only on condition that merger clearance regarding all those Member States is issued.

To promote the achievement of a true single European market, it is therefore necessary that a single competition authority should examine the transaction as a whole. If EU overlap is involved and the relevant criteria are met, the Commission is such an authority.

1. How will the Commission take into account the goal of creating a single telecommunications market in its assessment of the German competition authority’s request for referring part of the case?

2. Regarding the partial referral of the merger clearance procedure to the German competition authority, how will the Commission ensure that the proposed merger will be assessed using a comparable approach and on the basis of the same legal standards, given that the position of the merging parties is similar in all countries affected by the transaction and their respective markets?