The European Commission will not refer the planned acquisition of Telefónica (O2) by Hutchison (Three) in the UK to the country’s competition body.
The UK’s Competition and Market Authority made a request to take over regulatory scrutiny in October.
It said the transaction threatened to affect competition significantly and that the impact would likely be limited to UK consumers.
However, Brussels has knocked back the request, claiming that it is “better placed to ensure consistency in the application of merger control rules in the mobile telecommunications sector”.
It promised to “continue to cooperate closely” with the CMA.
The Commission opened an in-depth investigation into the deal at the end of October.
A final decision is due on 18 April next year.
Hutchison concluded a £10.25 billion (€14 billion) deal to acquire O2 UK in March.
Should it get the go-ahead, it would create the UK’s largest mobile operator with 33 million customers and a market share of around 41 percent.
In October, the CMA gave provisional regulatory clearance to BT’s acquisition of EE.
“The CMA has had extensive, constructive engagement with the Commission on this case and fully expects this co-operation to continue and increase now that the case remains with the Commission,” a statement from the UK authority read.
“In particular, the CMA intends to make representations on the competition impact of the merger in the UK as well as on any potential remedy proposals made by the parties.”