The New Irish Merger Control ‘Call-in’ Power of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to Require Notification of Sub-Threshold Transactions

In Ireland, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission now has a 'call-in' power to require parties to notify a sub-threshold transaction for the Commission's prior approval where it forms a view that the transaction 'may . . .have an effect on competition' in Ireland.• While parties to such a sub-threshold transaction will self-assess if it would be likely to substantially lessen competition in Ireland to help gauge the level of risk of a call-in by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the actual test for a call-in is wider and more flexible.• The basis on which the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission will form its opinion on this broad test remains to be established.• This development is a clearer legal mechanism for the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to assess sub-threshold transactions (i.e. in line with the expanded application of Article 22 of the EU Merger Regulation regarding subthreshold transactions and in international merger control more generally).A. The new Irish merger control power of the CCPC to call in unnotified sub-threshold transactions