Merger control

Mergers under review

Merger control is only fully effective if it is visible. Competitors, customers and suppliers of the parties to a transaction must be able to learn about it and put forward their views. This section will ensure that transparency.

No transactions are currently published

The e-Soumissions portal has just opened for merger notifications. Transactions made public by the Directorate will appear here, together with their non-confidential summary and the period during which third parties may submit their comments.

Each published transaction will include

  • The transaction fact sheet

    Type of transaction, parties, sectors and Member States concerned, notification date and current stage of the review.

  • The non-confidential summary

    A presentation of the transaction with business secrets removed, intended to inform third parties.

  • Third-party consultation

    A period during which competitors, customers, suppliers and trade associations may send their comments to the Directorate.

Tracking a transaction

Each published transaction will show its current stage:

  1. Notified

    The planned transaction is notified online, with a time-stamped acknowledgement of receipt.

  2. Under review

    Completeness check of the file, then investigation.

  3. Third-party consultation

    Interested third parties submit their comments.

  4. Advisory Committee opinion

    The Advisory Committee on Competition gives its opinion.

  5. Decided

    The decision on the transaction is adopted.

The applicable framework

In force

Article 4 of Regulation No. 02/2002/CM/UEMOA

It treats a merger as an abuse of a dominant position where the merger creates or strengthens a dominant position that significantly impedes effective competition within the common market.

In preparation

Preliminary draft regulation

It provides for a threshold-based notification requirement. Approved by the Member States in July 2020, it will change this regime once adopted.

Learn more about notification

Planning a transaction?

Online notification lets you have your project assessed before it is carried out and gives you a time-stamped acknowledgement of receipt.