Book Review: The Review of the EC Merger Regulation, with Evidence: House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union

• DOI: 10.1177/0003603X0204700409
• Published date: 01 December 2002
• Date: 01 December 2002
• Subject Matter: Book Review

The Antitrust BulletinlWinter 2002

The Review

of

the

EC

Merger

Regulation, With Evidence

House

of

Lords

Select

Committee

on

the

European

Union

London:

Her

Majesty's

Stationery

Office.

House

of

Lords.

Session

2001-02.

32d

Report,

HL

Paper

165

(2002),

254

pp.,

£21.50.

Reviewed by Charles Lister, Covington &Burling, London.

759

Unfortunately, few outside Britain seem to be aware that the reports

of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Union

regularly offer useful analyses and information about the Commu-

nity, including its competition policies. Perhaps many of us still

derive our impressions of the Lords from W.S. Gilbert'! Or perhaps,

based on more recent evidence, it is assumed that the Lords are

incurably

Eurosceptic.

But

whatever

the

explanation,

readers

should know that in fact the Select Committee's reports and evi-

dence often provide quite thoughtful and informative assessments

of the Community's competition policies and procedures.

An example is the Select Committee's most recent report on

the

Ee

merger regulation.s The report was issued in July 2002 in

response to the European Commission's 2001 green paper,' which

had reviewed more than 10 years of experience with the merger

regulation, and examined various possible substantive and proce-

dural changes in the Community's treatment

of

proposed mergers.

Cf.

W.S.

Gilbert

&A.

Sullivan,

Iolanthe (1882).

HOUSE

OF

LORDS

SELECT

COMMITTEE

ON

THE

EUROPEAN

UNION,

THE

REVIEW

OF

THE

EC

MERGER

REGULATION

(Sess.

2001-02,

32d

Report

(HL

Paper

165,

July

23,2002)

[hereinafter

SELECT

COMMITTEE

REPORT].

COM

(2001)

745/6

final.

© 2003 by Federal Legal Publications. Inc.