Thursday, November 19, 2026
4:00–7:30 p.m. CET
Le Louise Hotel | Brussels, Belgium
Hosted by The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon
The European Commission is rewriting its merger guidelines at a time when calls for European industrial champions, greater economic resilience and stronger global competitiveness are challenging traditional approaches to competition enforcement.
The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon bring together senior EU officials, legal experts, economists and industry representatives to examine how the revised guidelines aim to change the way Brussels assesses mergers, and what the Commission, businesses and their advisers will need to do differently in practice to turn the new framework’s ambitions into reality.
The programme will feature a fireside chat with Guillaume Loriot of the European Commission, followed by a panel discussion examining the practical implications of the proposed revisions, including innovation, competitiveness, efficiencies and the economic evidence needed to assess dynamic effects.
A networking drinks reception will follow the discussions, offering attendees an opportunity to continue the conversation with speakers and fellow participants.
Attendance is complimentary, and advance registration is required. Space is limited, please register now to join us in Brussels.
We look forward to seeing you there!
By registering for this event, you acknowledge that the data you have provided will be shared with The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon. Your data will be processed for the purposes of event management and in accordance with the Compass Lexecon privacy policy.
Guillaume Loriot is Deputy Director-General for Mergers in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), a position he has held since May 2021. He previously served as Director responsible for competition cases in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors from 2014 to 2021.
Earlier in his career, Loriot served as Deputy Head of Cabinet to Joaquín Almunia, then European Commissioner for Competition Policy, and held several positions within DG COMP. Before joining the European Commission in 2002, he worked in private legal practice and at the General Court of the European Union. He studied law at Paris II University, University College London and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Daniele Calisti is Head of the Mergers Case Support and Policy Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), where he leads work on EU merger policy, including the ongoing revision of the Commission’s merger guidelines.
Calisti joined DG COMP in 2008 and has worked on European competition enforcement and policy initiatives, including private enforcement and antitrust damages legislation. Before joining the Commission, he advised the Italian Parliament on the implementation of EU law. He holds a law degree from LUISS University in Rome, an LLM in European Law from King’s College London and a PhD in Public Law and Economics from Sapienza University of Rome.
Dr. Kasia Czapracka is a partner in the Brussels office of White & Case, where she advises clients on EU competition law, with a particular focus on complex merger control and antitrust matters. She has represented companies in Phase II merger investigations before the European Commission and national competition authorities and regularly coordinates multijurisdictional merger control and foreign investment reviews.
Her practice also includes EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation proceedings, abuse of dominance investigations, cartel matters and competition litigation. Czapracka holds a doctorate in law (JSD) and an LLM from Columbia Law School and has worked in White & Case’s New York, Washington, D.C., and Warsaw offices.
Adina Georgescu is Senior Policy Director at the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), an organisation bringing together chief executives and chairs of leading European industrial and technology companies. Her responsibilities span industrial and competition policy, the energy transition, clean industry and the CFO Platform.
Before joining ERT, Georgescu was associated with Eurometaux, the European metals industry association, where her work included engagement with European industrial policy and energy transition issues. She brings an industry perspective to discussions on Europe’s competitiveness, investment and the evolving EU competition policy framework.
Stéphane specialises in competition economics and has extensive experience advising clients and leading teams on complex merger control cases and antitrust investigations before the European Commission, the UK CMA, the French Competition Authority, and other competition authorities across Europe and beyond.
Stéphane’s merger experience includes several Phase 2 investigations, such as Mars/Kellanova and MOL/OMV Slovenija by the European Commission, Arcelik/Whirlpool by the UK CMA and TF1/M6 by the French Autorité de la Concurrence, in addition to multiple transactions with multi-jurisdictional reviews.
Prior to his current role at Compass Lexecon, Stéphane worked at other economic consultancy firms, as well as at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. His work focused on merger control and antitrust investigations across a range of sectors, including digital, IT, media, telecommunications, and energy.
Stéphane holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Namur, an MA in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and an MSc in Competition and Market Regulation from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
Javier Espinoza is an award-winning journalist and a leading voice in Brussels regulatory coverage. Before joining The Capitol Forum, he spent more than eight years at the Financial Times, serving as Private Equity Correspondent in London and EU Correspondent covering competition and digital policy in Brussels. He was also part of the team that launched the FT’s Due Diligence newsletter. His work has appeared in the Daily Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal.
Le Louise Hotel Brussels
Brussels, Belgium
The event will take place at Le Louise Hotel in Brussels, bringing together competition policy professionals, legal advisers, economists and industry representatives for an afternoon of discussion followed by a networking reception.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026
Registration: 4:00–4:30 p.m. CET
Programme: 4:30–6:35 p.m. CET
Networking Reception: 6:35–7:30 p.m. CET
Additional venue and arrival information will be provided to registered attendees ahead of the event.
4:00–4:30 p.m. | Registration and Welcome
Guest arrivals, registration and refreshments.
4:30–5:30 p.m. | Fireside Chat: The Future of EU Merger Control
Speaker: Guillaume Loriot, Deputy Director-General for Mergers, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Moderator: Javier Espinoza, Executive Editor, Europe, The Capitol Forum
As the European Commission rethinks how it assesses mergers, the draft guidelines place greater emphasis on innovation, competitiveness, economic security and resilience. This conversation will explore the Commission’s priorities, the barriers it has faced in analysing these issues, and how it plans to address those challenges.
Format: 45-minute discussion followed by 15 minutes of audience Q&A.
5:30–5:35 p.m. | Short Break
5:35–6:35 p.m. | Panel Discussion: What Will the New Merger Guidelines Really Change?
Panelists:
Moderator: Javier Espinoza, Executive Editor, Europe, The Capitol Forum
The European Commission’s draft revised merger guidelines promise a broader assessment of how transactions affect competition, including their potential benefits and dynamic effects. But how will assessments and outcomes change in practice? Will the new approach make it easier for European companies to consolidate?
Drawing on the consultation responses, the finalised study on dynamic effects and recent merger investigations, the panel will explore how the draft guidelines could potentially be further refined ahead of their adoption, what it would take to translate their ambitions into practice, and how the Commission, businesses and their advisers may need to adapt their approaches.
Particular attention will be given to theories of harm and benefit, the incentives for parties to substantiate efficiencies, and the evidence and economic analyses needed to assess dynamic effects robustly.
6:35–7:30 p.m. | Networking Drinks Reception
Following the panel discussion, guests and speakers are invited to continue the conversation over drinks and light refreshments.
Thursday, November 19, 2026
4:00–7:30 p.m. CET
Le Louise Hotel | Brussels, Belgium
Hosted by The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon
The European Commission is rewriting its merger guidelines at a time when calls for European industrial champions, greater economic resilience and stronger global competitiveness are challenging traditional approaches to competition enforcement.
The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon bring together senior EU officials, legal experts, economists and industry representatives to examine how the revised guidelines aim to change the way Brussels assesses mergers, and what the Commission, businesses and their advisers will need to do differently in practice to turn the new framework’s ambitions into reality.
The programme will feature a fireside chat with Guillaume Loriot of the European Commission, followed by a panel discussion examining the practical implications of the proposed revisions, including innovation, competitiveness, efficiencies and the economic evidence needed to assess dynamic effects.
A networking drinks reception will follow the discussions, offering attendees an opportunity to continue the conversation with speakers and fellow participants.
Attendance is complimentary, and advance registration is required. Space is limited, please register now to join us in Brussels.
We look forward to seeing you there!
By registering for this event, you acknowledge that the data you have provided will be shared with The Capitol Forum and Compass Lexecon. Your data will be processed for the purposes of event management and in accordance with the Compass Lexecon privacy policy.
Guillaume Loriot is Deputy Director-General for Mergers in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), a position he has held since May 2021. He previously served as Director responsible for competition cases in the telecommunications, media and technology sectors from 2014 to 2021.
Earlier in his career, Loriot served as Deputy Head of Cabinet to Joaquín Almunia, then European Commissioner for Competition Policy, and held several positions within DG COMP. Before joining the European Commission in 2002, he worked in private legal practice and at the General Court of the European Union. He studied law at Paris II University, University College London and the College of Europe in Bruges.
Daniele Calisti is Head of the Mergers Case Support and Policy Unit in the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition (DG COMP), where he leads work on EU merger policy, including the ongoing revision of the Commission’s merger guidelines.
Calisti joined DG COMP in 2008 and has worked on European competition enforcement and policy initiatives, including private enforcement and antitrust damages legislation. Before joining the Commission, he advised the Italian Parliament on the implementation of EU law. He holds a law degree from LUISS University in Rome, an LLM in European Law from King’s College London and a PhD in Public Law and Economics from Sapienza University of Rome.
Dr. Kasia Czapracka is a partner in the Brussels office of White & Case, where she advises clients on EU competition law, with a particular focus on complex merger control and antitrust matters. She has represented companies in Phase II merger investigations before the European Commission and national competition authorities and regularly coordinates multijurisdictional merger control and foreign investment reviews.
Her practice also includes EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation proceedings, abuse of dominance investigations, cartel matters and competition litigation. Czapracka holds a doctorate in law (JSD) and an LLM from Columbia Law School and has worked in White & Case’s New York, Washington, D.C., and Warsaw offices.
Adina Georgescu is Senior Policy Director at the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), an organisation bringing together chief executives and chairs of leading European industrial and technology companies. Her responsibilities span industrial and competition policy, the energy transition, clean industry and the CFO Platform.
Before joining ERT, Georgescu was associated with Eurometaux, the European metals industry association, where her work included engagement with European industrial policy and energy transition issues. She brings an industry perspective to discussions on Europe’s competitiveness, investment and the evolving EU competition policy framework.
Stéphane specialises in competition economics and has extensive experience advising clients and leading teams on complex merger control cases and antitrust investigations before the European Commission, the UK CMA, the French Competition Authority, and other competition authorities across Europe and beyond.
Stéphane’s merger experience includes several Phase 2 investigations, such as Mars/Kellanova and MOL/OMV Slovenija by the European Commission, Arcelik/Whirlpool by the UK CMA and TF1/M6 by the French Autorité de la Concurrence, in addition to multiple transactions with multi-jurisdictional reviews.
Prior to his current role at Compass Lexecon, Stéphane worked at other economic consultancy firms, as well as at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition. His work focused on merger control and antitrust investigations across a range of sectors, including digital, IT, media, telecommunications, and energy.
Stéphane holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Namur, an MA in European Economic Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium, and an MSc in Competition and Market Regulation from the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
Javier Espinoza is an award-winning journalist and a leading voice in Brussels regulatory coverage. Before joining The Capitol Forum, he spent more than eight years at the Financial Times, serving as Private Equity Correspondent in London and EU Correspondent covering competition and digital policy in Brussels. He was also part of the team that launched the FT’s Due Diligence newsletter. His work has appeared in the Daily Telegraph and The Wall Street Journal.
Le Louise Hotel Brussels
Brussels, Belgium
The event will take place at Le Louise Hotel in Brussels, bringing together competition policy professionals, legal advisers, economists and industry representatives for an afternoon of discussion followed by a networking reception.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2026
Registration: 4:00–4:30 p.m. CET
Programme: 4:30–6:35 p.m. CET
Networking Reception: 6:35–7:30 p.m. CET
Additional venue and arrival information will be provided to registered attendees ahead of the event.
4:00–4:30 p.m. | Registration and Welcome
Guest arrivals, registration and refreshments.
4:30–5:30 p.m. | Fireside Chat: The Future of EU Merger Control
Speaker: Guillaume Loriot, Deputy Director-General for Mergers, Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Moderator: Javier Espinoza, Executive Editor, Europe, The Capitol Forum
As the European Commission rethinks how it assesses mergers, the draft guidelines place greater emphasis on innovation, competitiveness, economic security and resilience. This conversation will explore the Commission’s priorities, the barriers it has faced in analysing these issues, and how it plans to address those challenges.
Format: 45-minute discussion followed by 15 minutes of audience Q&A.
5:30–5:35 p.m. | Short Break
5:35–6:35 p.m. | Panel Discussion: What Will the New Merger Guidelines Really Change?
Panelists:
Moderator: Javier Espinoza, Executive Editor, Europe, The Capitol Forum
The European Commission’s draft revised merger guidelines promise a broader assessment of how transactions affect competition, including their potential benefits and dynamic effects. But how will assessments and outcomes change in practice? Will the new approach make it easier for European companies to consolidate?
Drawing on the consultation responses, the finalised study on dynamic effects and recent merger investigations, the panel will explore how the draft guidelines could potentially be further refined ahead of their adoption, what it would take to translate their ambitions into practice, and how the Commission, businesses and their advisers may need to adapt their approaches.
Particular attention will be given to theories of harm and benefit, the incentives for parties to substantiate efficiencies, and the evidence and economic analyses needed to assess dynamic effects robustly.
6:35–7:30 p.m. | Networking Drinks Reception
Following the panel discussion, guests and speakers are invited to continue the conversation over drinks and light refreshments.
Fill out the following form to reserve your spot.
Thank you for registering for this event. We look forward to seeing you soon!
