Guidance Documents

The Competition Authority has published guidance documents on the interpretation of certain terms used in Part 3 of the Competition Act 2002 and various aspects of the merger review process. The links to these guidance documents are set out below.

• N/02/003 – Notice in respect of certain terms used in Part 3 of the Competition Act 2002. This Notice provides the Competition Authority's understanding of certain terms used in Part 3 of the Act. However, this Notice is not and does not purport to be an interpretation of the law.

• N/02/004 – Notice in respect of guidelines for merger analysis. This Notice offers guidance on how the Competition Authority decides whether or not a merger or acquisition substantially lessens competition under the Competition Act 2002.

• N/03/001 – Notice in respect of the review of non-notifiable mergers and acquisitions. This Notice gives guidance on the Competition Authority's review of mergers and acquisitions that do not meet the statutory thresholds and that may raise competition issues.

• Procedures for access to the file in merger cases, February 2006. This document provides guidance on the Competition Authority's policy in relation to access to its file by the merging parties.

• Revised procedures for the review of mergers and acquisitions, February 2006. This document outlines the procedures for dealing with mergers and acquisitions notified to the Competition Authority.

• Communications policy in relation to mergers. This document provides information on the Competition Authority's communications policy in relation to mergers.

NOTE: For issues not covered by the above guidance documents, please contact the Mergers Division at + 353 (0)1 804 5400 or mergers@tca.ie.

Useful links

• Mergers section of the European Commission website.

• Mergers section of the International Competition Network (ICN) website.