The efficiency defence and the European system of merger control.

Since the end of 1990, the European Commission has had specific merger control powers over mergers with a Community dimension. This system of merger control at the Commnuity level was created because the dismantling of non-tariff barriers in the single market resulted in major corporate reorganisations in the Community, particulalrly in the form of cross-border mergers. The present publication is intended as a contribution to the current debate on a review of the European merger regulation without reflecting necessarily the position of the European Commission. The first part consists of an outline of the economic and political reasons that justify the introduction of an 'efficiency defence' in merger control policy. The study in the second part examines in more detail the economic theory concerning the effficiency effects of mergers and surveys the empirical ecidence.