#381 A New Era for EU and UK Deals? The EC’s Draft Merger Guidelines and the CMA’s Growth Approach

The analysis of mergers in the EU and UK is adapting to take account of a changed worldwide geo-political and trade context. But what does this mean in practice? Stuart Hudson, co-lead of Brunswick’s global regulatory practice, joins Matthew Hall and James Hunsberger to discuss the European Commission's draft new EU Merger Guidelines and changes in the UK. Listen to this episode to learn more about what is in the draft EU guidelines, why the changes have been made, the UK's new approach, a prediction on EU/UK convergence or divergence and the risk of politicisation of merger control.
With special guest:
Stuart Hudson, co-lead global regulatory practice, Brunswick Group
Related Links:
• Stuart Hudson, "Six types of politicisation", 4 May 2026 (stuarthudson.com/six-types-of-politicisation)
• European Commission, Draft new EU Merger Guidelines, 30 April 2026 (competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/document/downl…)
• UK Government, Strategic steer to the UK Competition and Markets Authority, 15 May 2025 (gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-steer…)
• UK CMA, CMA launches review of its approach to merger efficiencies, 15 January 2026 (gov.uk/government/news/cma-launches-review-of-…)
• UK CMA, Merger remedies CMA87, 19 December 2025 (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6944062…)
Hosted by:
Matthew Hall, McGuireWoods and James Hunsberger, Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider