Benoît Cœuré presents the 2025 Annual Report and the outlook for the coming months

328 merger control decisions: a new record

The number of merger control decisions issued by the Autorité de la concurrence in 2025 reached a new record of 328, up 11% on the previous record in 2024 and representing a total transaction value of more than €31 billion.

94% of the mergers notified during the year were cleared without commitments. No transactions were prohibited or subject to an in-depth Phase 2 examination.

In 2025, the food retail sector accounted for almost half of the transactions examined by the Autorité. In total, the Autorité cleared the takeover of more than 600 stores. While certain transactions such as the acquisition of Auchan stores by Lidl were cleared without conditions (25-DCC-214), three transactions were cleared subject to commitments in order to ensure a sufficient level of competition and safeguard the interests of consumers.

The following transactions were cleared subject to conditions:

• the acquisition of Casino stores by Auchan (25-DCC-65);
• the acquisition of Cora and Match stores by Carrefour (25-DCC-56);
• the acquisition of Bio&Co stores by Marcel&Fils (25-DCC-222).

The food retail and agri-food sectors remain a significant area of focus for the Autorité in 2026. In addition to its recent examination of the conversion of 167 Auchan stores to the “Intermarché” or “Netto” banners, the Autorité will issue the findings of its competitive assessment of the AURA and CONCORDIS buying alliances in the coming months, while a decision on the proposed merger of Euralis and Maïsadour is expected soon, following decisions on several agricultural cooperatives, including the merger of Terres du Sud and Vivadour (26-DCC-10), already issued during the first part of the year.

€379.3 million in fines imposed in 2025

The Autorité issued 9 antitrust decisions in 2025, of which 5 with fines. The total amount of fines imposed was €379,255,000.

The Autorité was active in many sectors of the economy during the year, with a particular focus on the digital, food retail and consumer goods sectors. For example, it fined Apple for abusing its dominant position in the sector for mobile application advertising on iOS terminals (25-D-02), and sanctioned an anticompetitive agreement in the road fuel distribution sector in Corsica (25-D-07). In 2026, the Autorité ordered interim measures against Meta in respect of related rights.

The Autorité also broke new ground in addressing emerging forms of anticompetitive conduct. For the first time, it fined a dominant undertaking for a predatory acquisition (Doctolib – 25-D-06), and took action against anticompetitive practices in the labour market by sanctioning no-poach agreements in the engineering and technology consultancy sector, which restricted employee mobility, limited career opportunities and adversely affected working conditions (25-D-03). In March 2026, the Autorité also sanctioned an exclusivity clause imposed by the French ski instructors union (SNMSF) on independent ski instructors, finding that it unduly restricted their professional mobility (26-D-03).

Moreover, the French overseas territories remain a key priority for the Autorité. Several decisions have already been issued in 2026, including on the distribution of electrical cables (26-D-04) and the public works sector in Wallis and Futuna (26-D-02). Decisions concerning Mayotte and La Réunion are expected in the coming months.

Strong advisory role

In 2025, the Autorité was very active in its advisory role, issuing 17 opinions. In addition to profession-specific opinions on lawyers at the French Administrative Supreme Court (Conseil d’État) and French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) (25-A-06) and commissioners of justice (25-A-17), the Autorité issued an opinion on the 2015 reforms of the freedom of establishment and regulated fees of certain legal professions (25-A-09). The Autorité also examined a number of sectors, including food distribution in Martinique (26-A-01), energy (25-A-13), veterinary medicines (25-A-12), local and regional public authority property insurance (25-A-04), and agricultural equipment (25-A-15). Moreover, the Autorité decided to examine, at its own initiative (ex officio), emerging and evolving sectors, including consumer product and service rating systems (25-A-01), platforms and content creators (26-A-02), and artificial intelligence (energy and environmental impact). Lastly, the Autorité will issue an opinion on conversational agents and e-commerce in the coming weeks.

“Open door” approach to sustainability

As part of its commitment to the environmental transition, the Autorité continued its “open door” approach to projects pursuing sustainability objectives, including through the publication of two informal guidance letters in 2025 and a further two in the first half of 2026. With a view to conducting an initial review of the informal guidance framework, the Autorité launched a public consultation in 2026.

The rise in actions for damages 

Lastly, victims of anticompetitive practices can bring actions for damages before the competent courts on the basis of the infringement decisions issued by the Autorité. For example, the courts have awarded substantial damages in a number of sectors, including pharmaceutical products (May 2013), the sale of poultry meat (May 2015), floor coverings (October 2017), packaged fruit sold in cups and pouches (December 2019), and online advertising (June 2021).

* The English version of the Annual Report will be available shorlty.