Of Balance in Mergers: The Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-376/20 P Commission v CK Telecoms.

The article focuses on the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) landmark judgment in the CK telecoms case, which clarified key aspects of EU merger control under the Merger Regulation (EUMR). The Court reaffirmed the principle of neutrality in assessing mergers’ compatibility with the internal market and established that the standard of proof for demonstrating a significant impediment to effective competition (SIEC) is the balance of probabilities (“more likely than not”), applying equally to dominance and non-dominance (“gap”) cases. It also rejected the General Court’s higher “strong probability” standard and its novel legal tests, restoring the Commission’s discretion while emphasizing the need for a cogent evidentiary basis and comprehensive judicial review. Furthermore, the Court upheld the Commission’s economic concepts as set out in its Horizontal Merger Guidelines, rejected the notion of presumed “standard efficiencies,” and clarified the institutional balance between the Commission’s enforcement role and the EU Courts’ scrutiny. This judgment thus provides a systematic framework grounded in balance for merger assessment and judicial review in the EU.