Tomaso Duso, Chairman of the Monopoly Commission, has sharply criticized the EU Commission’s plans to relax guidelines governing corporate mergers. While acknowledging that the argument for large-scale European mergers to achieve global competitiveness sounds persuasive at first glance, Duso stated that it lacks empirical support. Instead, he warned that the concentration of economic power among a few mega-corporations actually undermines long-term innovative dynamism and risks creating new economic dependencies.
To illustrate his point, Duso referenced the initially planned merger between Siemens and Alstom. This union was intended to create a European champion capable of competing with the Chinese company CRRC, but the EU Commission subsequently vetoed the deal. Duso observed that today, both original companies have successfully strengthened their international positions independently, and CRRC remains scarcely established in Europe. According to the economist, robust competition within Europe not only does not exclude international competitiveness but actively promotes it.
Duso also raised concerns regarding the future implications for mergers. While companies might use cost savings as a primary justification for mergers, the major danger, he argued, is that these savings are not passed on to consumers. He noted that when market concentration increases, the vital competitive pressure to pass on cost reductions in the form of lower prices tends to dissipate. In practice, Duso pointed out that job cuts often realize supposed synergies, leaving the consumer with nothing. Consequently, the economist demanded that companies must provide concrete and verifiable evidence-including genuine investment plans and empirical data-that these alleged profits will indeed benefit the consumer, rather than offering merely vague promises on paper.
