Minister of Economics Katherina Reiche (CDU) is pushing for significant changes to Germany’s competition laws, aiming to strengthen the Federal Cartel Office’s (Bundeskartellamt) oversight role. These proposed amendments, detailed in a draft referred by Politico, focus heavily on adjustments to merger control and enhancing the office’s preventative measures against anticompetitive behavior.
A major change involves raising the revenue thresholds that trigger mandatory review of corporate mergers. Currently, since 1999, companies must notify the authorities if the involved entities have a global turnover exceeding 500 million euros and a domestic German turnover of at least 50 million euros. The proposed increase would raise these required thresholds by 50%, setting them at 750 million euros globally and 75 million euros domestically.
Beyond standard merger checks, Reiche wants to broaden the Cartel Office’s powers specifically against “killer acquisitions.” These are scenarios where large established corporations purchase smaller, promising firms that have not yet become serious competitors but possess potential. The proposals would allow the Cartel Office to scrutinize these takeovers even if the target companies do not currently operate in Germany, provided there is a strong expectation they will eventually enter the market.
These regulatory enhancements also align with planned high public spending initiatives. With increased infrastructure investment, the Cartel Office is expected to gain improved tools for identifying and preventing price collusion when government contracts are awarded.
In other targeted sectoral regulations, the heightened supervisory rules within the energy sector will be extended by an additional five years. This measure grants the Federal Cartel Office stronger intervention capacity in cases of proven abuse, including the ability to confiscate illicit profits.
Institutionally, the proposed law makes several operational changes. Most proceedings handled by the Cartel Office are scheduled for digitalization. Furthermore, certain minor decisions will benefit from a streamlined two-week deadline; if no decision is made within that period, the planned combination of companies will be considered approved. Additionally, the term limit for the President of the Federal Cartel Office would be capped at eight years-a limitation that does not currently exist, noting that Andreas Mundt has held the chief position since 2009.
The government plans to adopt this legislative amendment in Cabinet before the parliamentary summer recess, with a target date set for July 1st according to the preliminary cabinet schedule.
