Events

In our calendar, you can find all the events organised or sponsored by the EU-Japan Centre, as well as other events related to EU-Japan relations.

10/03/2009 - Tokyo, Japan

Industrial Policy Seminar (Seminar)

Global Economic Activities and EU Merger Regulation: Legal and Economic Analyses

Overview:
The EU Merger Regulation was adopted in 1989, and took effect the following year. During its relatively short 20-year history, there has been a wide range of controversies, among other things with respect to judicial review by the European Court of Justice, the substantive test in the light of which mergers are reviewed, and the rules governing the methods and procedures for determining whether a given transaction is compatible with EU competition law, leading to a revision of the Regulation in 2004.

The objective of merger review in the EU is to ensure that competition is maintained in the common market. The target of the EU merger control is a merger with a “Community Dimension,” which is determined by the size of the aggregate sales of the parties involved at worldwide level and the parties’ sales in the EU. This is particularly striking in the case of joint ventures, where, for example, a jointly-owned company set up by two large Japanese multinationals with operations in Japan or Asia only, could be subject to pre-merger control in the EU. What happens in cases of corporate acquisition by funds? In view of the widespread global economic activities and corporate restructuring in recent years, it is thus essential for Japanese companies to take into account how the EU Merger Regulation is applied. It is important for these companies to keep this in mind not only when they are parties in the mergers in question, but also because they may be adversely affected, either as customers or competitors, by such global-scale mergers.

On 10 March 2009, the Delegation of the European Commission to Japan and the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation co-organised a seminar entitled “Global economic activities and EU merger regulation: Legal and Economic Analyses” and invited experts from Europe and Japan, to discuss issues of interest to Japanese business.

The seminar examined how the EU merger review is conducted, how the “relevant market” is determined and what measures are likely to be taken in the event a transaction raises serious doubts as to its compatibility with EC competition law, with regard to those transactions on a global scale. It attempted to clarify, in particular, so-called “extraterritorial application”, the notion and treatment of a corporate group, and the timeframe within which the merger review process is conducted. The seminar topic also included such questions as standard of proof, one-stop shop control and issues of the EC filing in reality, especially in relation to the filings by Member States as well as its relation to trends in recent merger notifications in the world.

The Commission has undertaken efforts to make a number of improvements to the system. Through notices and other types of guidelines, the Commission has provided detailed explanations of the analytical framework underlying the merger review process, and clarified the details of its analysis criteria. Since 2003, the Commission also has a Chief Economist, assisted by a team of about 20 PhD economists, whose role it is to ensure that merger review is based on sound economic principles and to protect consumers’ interests more effectively. Economists now play a central role in the analysis of the vast majority of complex mergers. The increasing use of economic analysis in merger control is also supported by judgments of the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice, and economic principles have been incorporated in the guidelines and notices issued by the Commission.

Today, the Commission continues to consider the means to render its merger control procedures more effective and transparent. What should be these means, when global financial markets are going through instability?

Programme:
Moderator: Prof. Hiroko YAMANE, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

14:30	Opening remark, Mr. Julien GUERRIER, General Manager, EU-Japan Centre
14:35	“Global Economy and Competition Law” Speaker: Mr. Kazuhiko TAKESHIMA, Chairman, Japan Fair Trade Commission
15:00	“Merger Regulation in the EU – Recent Developments” Speaker: Mr. Guillaume LORIOT, Head of Unit, Antitrust and Merger case support, DG Competition, European Commission
15:30	“Economic Analysis: Global Economy and Demarcation of Relevant Markets” Speaker: Dr. Francesco ROSATI, Senior Associate, RBB Economics, Brussels
16:00	Coffee Break
16:10	“Merger Cases and Jurisdiction” Speaker: Prof. Mitsuo MATSUSHITA, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo University, Legal Advisor to Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu
16:40	“Issues of merger cases in global economy – Perspective from a working level” Speaker: Mr. Rony GERRITS, Morrison & Foerster LLP, Brussels Office
17:10	Panel Discussion Panelists: Mr. Kozo KAWAI, Attorney-at-law, Nishimura & Asahi Mr. Soichiro SAKUMA, General Manager, Legal Department, Nippon Steel Corporation Mr. Norimichi SAITO, Legal Department, Panasonic Corporation
18:00	Closing remark, Mr. Hiroshi TSUKAMOTO, General Manager, EU-Japan Centre
18:00	Networking Cocktail

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