The General Court's judgment of 13 July 2022 in Case T-227/21 – Illumina/GRAIL, confirming the Commission's new approach to referrals pursuant to Article 22 EUMR.
Until March 2021, companies could confidently close a transaction which qualified for merger control neither under the EU Merger Regulation's (EUMR) rules nor in any EU Member State. But that closed door was kicked open when the Commission released its new guidance on Article 22 EUMR. In Illumina/GRAIL, the Court refused to shut that door, endorsing the Commission's view that it has jurisdiction to review a concentration referred to it by a Member State under Article 22 EUMR even if that concentration does not meet the national merger control thresholds of the referring Member State.