The biggest shake-up in two decades of the rules comes as the EU worries it will fall further behind the world’s biggest economies if it does not do more to boost European industry.

“Europe needs bold, innovative companies that can compete on the global stage. We have the talent. Now we must build the environment for Europe’s next champions,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

In its merger decisions, the EU has focused on prioritising the consumer, opting to block deals if they risked higher prices for citizens and unfair competition.

Now the European Commission, the EU’s powerful competition regulator, wants the rules to reflect “today’s changed geopolitical and trade context, where industrial scale and global competitiveness” are more important.

The commission has proposed that regulators consider whether mergers “benefit the internal market and promote global competitiveness”.

EU competition commissioner Teresa Ribera insisted that “fairness” would remain, adding the rules would still protect “strong, competitive markets without allowing an accumulation of power that can be abused”.

Berlin and Paris have long since called for reforms of the rules since the EU blocked a rail tie-up between Germany’s Siemens and France’s Alstom in 2019.

The hope had been that it would create a desperately desired European champion, like Airbus for the railways, to face down Chinese state-backed rival CRRC.

At the time, Brussels feared the merger would have raised train ticket prices.

The EU published the draft guidelines for feedback until June 26, meaning they could change before formal adoption.