On 18 May 2017, the Belgian Competition Authority (Belgische Mededingingsautoriteit / Autorité belge de la Concurrence) ("BCA") announced that it would not recommend a change to the current Belgian merger notification thresholds.
At present, concentrations are subject to notification in Belgium if they do not have a Community dimension (in which case they must be notified to the European Commission) and if the notifying parties have a joint turnover in Belgium of more than EUR 100 million while at least two of the parties concerned by the transaction each realise a turnover in Belgium of at least EUR 40 million. Pursuant to Article IV.7(3) of the Code of Economic Law (Wetboek van Economisch Recht / Code de droit économique), the BCA must reassess these thresholds every three years, "taking into account, inter alia, the economic implications and administrative burden on undertakings".
The BCA is not the only competition authority currently reviewing its merger control thresholds, as the European Commission engaged in a similar exercise with the launch of a public consultation on the matter in October 2016.
The BCA is of the opinion that Belgian notification thresholds should not be increased because they are already relatively high when compared to those neighbouring Member States.
At the same time, the BCA believes that the thresholds should not be reduced either, since, according to the BCA, transactions only meet them when the market has already reached "a significant level of consolidation". However, the BCA notes that, should a decrease of the threshold be considered, it would argue in favour of a reduction focusing on specific sectors involving local markets. This follows the French approach. The BCA is also open to the idea of requesting undertakings simply to inform the BCA of specific transactions that fall below the notification thresholds, but are nevertheless "important for the Belgian market" (with information thresholds to be defined), in order for the BCA to "better anticipate market consolidation processes".
Finally, the BCA recommends that any proposal to amend the notification thresholds be subject to consultation with stakeholders.
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