European Commission watching European consolidation trends

European Commission DG Competition Henrik Mørch, speaking at the ACI 26th General Assembly in Athens, said (21-Jun-2016) the EC has generally approved JVs but is closely watching consolidation trends. Mr Mørch said the EC is interested in how much consolidation can be justified with efficiency gains for the consumer. While the European aviation market is more fragmented than the American market, taking the level of consolidation that exists in the US and applying it to Europe is "not necessarily something we would advocate for...there's too little competition in the American market in our view."