Bundeskartellamt
Germany's Federal Cartel Office; competition law across tech, energy and M&A for all German markets.
The Bundeskartellamt must review Cohere and Aleph Alpha's $20bn merger, announced in April 2026, but no formal filing had been lodged as of mid-May, reflecting the difficulty of binding Berlin's sovereignty conditions into law.
Last refreshed: 4 August 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
Will the Bundeskartellamt's concerns reshape Germany's StromVKG capacity market design?
Timeline for Bundeskartellamt
Declined to open antitrust proceedings against SAP
European Tech Sovereignty: Germany declines to open an SAP caseMentioned in: StromVKG hearing keeps Sept date intact
European Energy MarketsFlagged market-concentration concerns in the StromVKG capacity-market design
European Energy Markets: Capacity law faces 24 June hearingMentioned in: CNMC case turns on a secret REE report
European Energy MarketsCohere-Aleph Alpha settle at 90/10, no filing yet
European Tech SovereigntyBackground
The Bundeskartellamt is Germany's primary competition authority, responsible for merger control, cartel enforcement and abuse-of-dominance proceedings across all sectors of the German economy. It is among Europe's most active national competition regulators on digital markets, with a track record of proceedings against Amazon, Facebook and Google under the amended German Competition Act, which added sector-specific digital market provisions ahead of the EU's Digital Markets Act.
Established in 1958 and headquartered in Bonn, the Bundeskartellamt operates under the GWB and EU merger regulation, cooperating with the EU competition network and coordinating with ACER and ENTSO-E on cross-border energy market proceedings. President Andreas Mundt, in office since 2009, has positioned the office as an early mover on algorithmic pricing, platform market power and energy market design.
Sovereignty terms stall a formal filing
The Cohere and Aleph Alpha merger, announced in April 2026 at a combined valuation of $20bn, requires Bundeskartellamt review given Aleph Alpha's German base. As of mid-May 2026 no formal filing had been lodged.
The delay reflects the complexity of structuring Berlin's stated sovereignty conditions, that AI development services remain in Germany and the merged entity maintain infrastructure sovereignty, into legally bindable form rather than any standard merger-control bottleneck. Cases with EU-scale market effects can be referred to the Commission's DG COMP, but national review is standard for transactions below EU thresholds.
The office flags concentration risk in StromVKG
In June 2026 the Bundeskartellamt flagged market-concentration concerns in the design of the StromVKG, Germany's proposed electricity capacity-market law. The law's first auction, 4.5 GW of long-duration capacity with a ten-hour continuous-output rule that excludes batteries from the opening tranche, is targeted for 1 September 2026, with a public expert hearing held on 24 June.
Any capacity mechanism that concentrates revenue in incumbent baseload operators attracts the office's standard market-power scrutiny, and the Greens' parliamentary motion demanding technology-neutral criteria aligns with the Bundeskartellamt's position.
Reference
How does the Bundeskartellamt differ from the EU competition body?
What is the Bundeskartellamt?
Will the Bundeskartellamt review the Cohere and Aleph Alpha merger?
