In a decisive move to modernize the French business environment, the National Assembly and the Senate recently adopted the “Simplifying Economic Life” bill. The centerpiece of this reform, found in Article 8, is a major increase in the financial thresholds that trigger mandatory merger reviews by the Competition Authority. This legislative shift represents the first major update to these limits in nearly twenty years, aiming to balance market oversight with a reduced administrative burden on growing companies.
The reform addresses a decade-long trend of “mechanical” over-regulation. Since 2004, while the thresholds remained static, the French economy experienced 40% cumulative inflation and 65% growth in nominal GDP. As company turnovers rose naturally with the economy, more mergers fell under the Authority’s jurisdiction, causing a 59% increase in cases between 2010 and 2025. By raising the general worldwide turnover threshold from €150 million to €250 million, and the individual French threshold from €50 million to €80 million, the government expects to reduce notifications by up to 30%.
This simplification specifically benefits small and medium-sized enterprises, which previously faced costly filing requirements for transactions that rarely threatened competition. However, the government has maintained a strict stance on overseas territories and the retail sector. Thresholds in regions like Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon remain unchanged to protect these vulnerable markets from high costs and excessive concentration.
For the Competition Authority, the shift is a strategic win. By filtering out routine, non-problematic transactions, the agency can now reallocate its specialized resources toward high-stakes cases, predatory acquisitions, and large-scale international mergers.
