Although this paper follows on those new proposals, and addresses many of the same problems, the international merger control regime proposed here fundamentally differs in its approach. Although there is certainly a beneficial role for an international institution in merger control, the current proposals are too ambitious. Instead of focussing on the allocation of cross-border transactions, this paper suggests that the focus should be on the cases which present no treat to competition, and yet are scrutinized by several different national competition law regulators. An international institution, probably within the framework of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”), should be created to identify those jurisdictions where a particular concentration does not have a potential effect on competition.
