According to the official notification published by the European Commission, its competition officials now have just over one month to decide whether the joint venture agreed between ABP, Slaney Foods and Fane Valley Group is acceptable under competition law.

After its so-called phase one investigation, the Commission can give the deal the green light or open a deeper investigation.

The IFA recently commissioned a report from a competition economist, which found that the proposed takeover of 50% of Slaney by ABP would significantly erode competition, especially for the best in-spec steers and heifers, and regionally in the southeast.

The competition Commissioner operates in a very independent and quasi-judicial role

Speaking at the Cork 2.0 conference on rural development, European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said the investigation by the competition arm of the Commission involves "many complex legal, accountancy and competition reasons that come into play which only the expertise of that directorate will be able to tease out in terms of the complaints that are made".

"The competition Commissioner operates in a very independent and quasi-judicial role," he added. "Of course, if the competition commissioner wishes to make a proposal to the Commission, I expect it will be receiving the full support of the Commission."

Listen to Commissioner Hogan speaking to reporters in our podcast below:

Commission 'still negotiating' on TTIP

Asked about the state of play in negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) after senior government officials in France and Germany said the proposed trade deal between the EU and the US could not go ahead, Hogan said: "We are still negotiating with the United States of America. I know of the comments of some member states, but I’ve heard comments from member states before and our negotiations continue."

He added that any deal would depend on the EU receiving a good response from the US on its priorities, which he acknowledged would require more work.

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