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In early October, representatives from American Chambers of Commerce across Europe and Eurasia came together in Istanbul, Türkiye, for the 2026 AmChams in Europe (ACE) Best Practice Sharing Conference. Held under the theme Entrepreneurship for Innovation, Investment, Technology and Trade: Building a Stronger Transatlantic Future, the annual event is a chance to strengthen the collective voice of the AmCham in Europe network, exchange views on the evolving business environment and foster closer collaboration across borders.

The revised Merger Guidelines1 (‘Guidelines’) should ensure that the EU merger control framework supports competitiveness, innovation and investment while preserving legal certainty, predictability and effective competition. The Guidelines should remain firmly anchored in the significant impediment of effective competition (SIEC) test, apply resilience and scale considerations in a headquarters-neutral and effects-based manner, and provide clearer analytical and evidentiary standards for resilience assessments and the new theories of harm.

The Guidelines should recognise the benefits of scale where these deliver demonstrable advantages for EU consumers, apply the innovation shield consistently across all acquirers, maintain appropriate safe harbours and ensure a balanced and symmetrical assessment of harms and benefits. The Guidelines should also strengthen predictability across overlapping transaction review regimes and provide greater certainty for both EU and non-EU investors. Together, these refinements would help ensure that merger control contributes to competitiveness, innovation and economic growth while maintaining a transparent and proportionate enforcement framework.

On Tuesday, 23 June, AmCham EU held its Annual General Meeting (AGM), welcoming Pedro Lourtie, Head of Cabinet of the President of the European Council, António Costa. The AGM provided an opportunity to reflect on AmCham EU’s work over the past year and to look ahead to the organisation’s priorities for the months to come, including its continued efforts to support an open and competitive Europe.