“No pan-European impact”
“The Ahold-Delhaize merger can influence the competitiveness on the Belgian market, without an actual pan-European impact. That is why it is important that the Belgian Competition Authority investigates the impact on the Belgian market itself”, Peeters says in a letter to the European Commission, according to Belgian business newspaper De Tijd.
That Commission is currently evaluating who should investigate the possible consequences of the merger. In most of Europe Ahold and Delhaize have stayed clear of each other, except for Belgium: Delhaize has several hundred stores in Belgium, while Ahold has more than 30 Albert Heijn stores in Belgium already. Therefore, it can be expected that the Belgian Competition Authority will be granted the right to investigate the matter more closely.
