# EU Merger & Competition Cases Scraper - DG COMP Decisions (`jungle_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper`) Actor Scrape EU Commission competition cases from DG COMP. Covers Mergers, Antitrust, Cartels, and State Aid. Per-case: number, parties, dates, decision type, simplified flag. Filter by instrument, country, sector, and date range. Ideal for law firms, M\&A teams, and policy researchers. - **URL**: https://apify.com/jungle\_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [BowTiedRaccoon](https://apify.com/jungle_synthesizer) (community) - **Categories:** Business, Other, Developer tools - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## EU Competition Cases Scraper - DG COMP Decisions Scrape European Commission competition cases directly from [competition-cases.ec.europa.eu](https://competition-cases.ec.europa.eu). Returns structured records for Mergers, Antitrust, Cartels, and State Aid — 65,000+ cases in total — with case number, parties, dates, decision type, sectors, countries, and more, in clean JSON. --- ### EU Competition Cases Scraper Features - Extracts cases from all four DG COMP instruments: Mergers (M), Antitrust (AT), Cartels (CA), and State Aid (SA) - Returns 14 fields per case: number, title, parties, notification date, decision date, decision types, simplified procedure flag, sectors, countries, related cases, press release references, regulation, and a direct link to the EC detail page - Filters by instrument, member state, NACE sector, decision type code, decision date range, or a single case number lookup - Supports full-text search across case titles and documents - Pure API scraping — no browser, no proxy required - Handles pagination automatically across 10,000+ merger cases and 65,000+ total records - Politeness delay between pages; respectful of the EU public API --- ### Who Uses EU Competition Case Data? - **M&A counsel and deal teams** — screen merger filings, track precedents, and check whether a deal in a given sector has been reviewed before - **Competition law firms** — build case databases for client briefings and regulatory strategy - **In-house legal and compliance teams** — monitor enforcement trends in their industry or geography - **Policy researchers and academics** — analyze DG COMP decision patterns over time, cross-instrument or cross-sector - **Data vendors and legal tech companies** — feed structured EC case records into search products or analytics pipelines --- ### How EU Competition Cases Scraper Works 1. You specify a case instrument (Merger, Antitrust, Cartels, or State Aid), optional filters, and a maximum number of cases to return. 2. The scraper queries the ODSE search API that powers the EC's own case search interface — it's the same data, pulled via the same endpoint the browser uses. 3. Results are returned as structured JSON, one record per case, with metadata normalized from the Elasticsearch index (dates parsed, HTML stripped, arrays flattened). 4. Pagination runs automatically until `maxItems` is reached or the result set is exhausted. --- ### Input ```json { "caseInstrument": "M", "maxItems": 100, "decisionDateFrom": "2020-01-01", "country": "DE", "sp_intended_usage": "Building a merger precedent database for a law firm" } ```` | Field | Type | Default | Description | |-------|------|---------|-------------| | `caseInstrument` | string | `"M"` | Instrument to query. Options: `""` (all), `"M"` (Merger), `"AT"` (Antitrust), `"CA"` (Cartels), `"SA"` (State Aid) | | `decisionType` | string | `""` | Filter by decision type code (e.g. `DecisionType20240`). Leave blank for all. | | `country` | string | `""` | Filter by member state (two-letter ISO code or `CountryDEU` style). | | `policyArea` | string | `""` | Filter by NACE sector substring (e.g. `NaceV2Sector_K` for Finance). | | `decisionDateFrom` | string | `""` | Cases with last decision on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). | | `decisionDateTo` | string | `""` | Cases with last decision on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). | | `caseNumber` | string | `""` | Fetch a specific case by number (e.g. `M.10646`). Overrides all other filters. | | `searchText` | string | `""` | Full-text search across case titles and documents. | | `maxItems` | integer | `15` | Maximum cases to return. Set to `0` for unlimited. | *** ### EU Competition Cases Scraper Output Fields ```json { "case_number": "M.10646", "case_title": "MICROSOFT / ACTIVISION BLIZZARD", "case_instrument": "M", "notification_date": "2022-11-09", "decision_date": "2023-05-15", "decision_types": ["DecisionType20100"], "simplified_procedure": false, "parties": ["Microsoft Corporation", "Activision Blizzard Inc."], "sectors": ["NaceV2Sector_J_62"], "countries": [], "related_cases": [], "press_release_refs": ["IP/23/2705"], "regulation": "MERegulation139_2004", "case_url": "https://competition-cases.ec.europa.eu/cases/M.10646" } ``` | Field | Type | Description | |-------|------|-------------| | `case_number` | string | EC case number (e.g. `M.10646`) | | `case_title` | string | Case title — typically `COMPANY A / COMPANY B` for mergers | | `case_instrument` | string | Instrument code: `M`, `AT`, `CA`, or `SA` | | `notification_date` | string | Case notification or initiation date (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `decision_date` | string | Date of last decision (YYYY-MM-DD) | | `decision_types` | array | Decision type codes | | `simplified_procedure` | boolean | True if processed under simplified procedure | | `parties` | array | Companies involved in the case | | `sectors` | array | NACE sector codes | | `countries` | array | Member state country codes involved | | `related_cases` | array | Linked case numbers | | `press_release_refs` | array | IP/press release reference codes | | `regulation` | string | Applicable regulation code | | `case_url` | string | Direct URL to the EC case detail page | *** ### FAQ #### How do I scrape EU competition cases from DG COMP? EU Competition Cases Scraper connects to the same search API powering competition-cases.ec.europa.eu. Configure your instrument, filters, and `maxItems`, then run. Clean JSON comes out the other end. #### How much does EU Competition Cases Scraper cost? The pricing model is pay-per-result — approximately $0.002 per case record, plus a $0.10 platform fee per run. Scraping 1,000 merger cases costs roughly $2.10. #### What data can I get from competition-cases.ec.europa.eu? EU Competition Cases Scraper returns per-case metadata: case number and title, involved companies, instrument type, notification date, decision date and type, simplified procedure status, NACE sectors, member state countries, linked cases, press release references, and a direct URL to the EC detail page. Actual decision PDFs are linked on the EC detail page but not downloaded by this actor. #### Can I filter by date range or country? EU Competition Cases Scraper supports date range filters on decision date (`decisionDateFrom`, `decisionDateTo`), member state (`country`), NACE sector (`policyArea`), and decision type code (`decisionType`). Stack any combination. #### Does EU Competition Cases Scraper need proxies? No. The DG COMP API is a public EU government service with no access controls, rate limits, or geographic restrictions. The scraper runs without proxies. *** ### Need More Features? Need custom fields, instrument combinations, or document download support? [File an issue](https://console.apify.com/actors/VEnuC75ORYkI01NcI/issues) or get in touch. ### Why Use EU Competition Cases Scraper? - **First Apify actor for EC competition cases** — no comparable actor exists for the full DG COMP dataset across all four instruments - **Clean, normalized output** — dates parsed, HTML stripped, arrays consistent, and a direct case URL ready to use, rather than a raw dump from the Elasticsearch index - **Affordable** — ~$0.002/record with no proxy costs; bulk exports of 10,000+ merger cases run for around $20 # Actor input Schema ## `sp_intended_usage` (type: `string`): Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler. ## `sp_improvement_suggestions` (type: `string`): Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements. ## `sp_contact` (type: `string`): Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you. ## `caseInstrument` (type: `string`): Which DG COMP instrument to query. Leave blank to query all instruments. ## `decisionType` (type: `string`): Filter by decision type code (e.g. DecisionType20240 for simplified clearance). Leave blank for all. ## `country` (type: `string`): Two-letter ISO country code or CountryDEU/CountryFRA style code. Leave blank for all. ## `policyArea` (type: `string`): NACE sector substring (e.g. NaceV2Sector\_K for Finance). Leave blank for all. ## `decisionDateFrom` (type: `string`): Return cases with last decision on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). ## `decisionDateTo` (type: `string`): Return cases with last decision on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD). ## `caseNumber` (type: `string`): Fetch a specific case by number (e.g. M.10646). Ignores other filters. ## `searchText` (type: `string`): Full-text search across case titles and documents. ## `maxItems` (type: `integer`): Maximum cases to return. 0 for unlimited. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): DG COMP API is an EU public service. No proxy required by default. ## Actor input object example ```json { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "caseInstrument": "M", "maxItems": 15, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `results` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "caseInstrument": "M", "decisionType": "", "country": "", "policyArea": "", "decisionDateFrom": "", "decisionDateTo": "", "caseNumber": "", "searchText": "", "maxItems": 15, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "caseInstrument": "M", "decisionType": "", "country": "", "policyArea": "", "decisionDateFrom": "", "decisionDateTo": "", "caseNumber": "", "searchText": "", "maxItems": 15, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False }, } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("jungle_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "sp_intended_usage": "Describe your intended use...", "sp_improvement_suggestions": "Share your suggestions here...", "sp_contact": "Share your email here...", "caseInstrument": "M", "decisionType": "", "country": "", "policyArea": "", "decisionDateFrom": "", "decisionDateTo": "", "caseNumber": "", "searchText": "", "maxItems": 15, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": false } }' | apify call jungle_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=jungle_synthesizer/ec-merger-decisions-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "EU Merger & Competition Cases Scraper - DG COMP Decisions", "description": "Scrape EU Commission competition cases from DG COMP. Covers Mergers, Antitrust, Cartels, and State Aid. Per-case: number, parties, dates, decision type, simplified flag. Filter by instrument, country, sector, and date range. Ideal for law firms, M&A teams, and policy researchers.", "version": "0.1", "x-build-id": "0EiDHnXeubhmdK3D5" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~ec-merger-decisions-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-jungle_synthesizer-ec-merger-decisions-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~ec-merger-decisions-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-jungle_synthesizer-ec-merger-decisions-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/jungle_synthesizer~ec-merger-decisions-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-jungle_synthesizer-ec-merger-decisions-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "sp_intended_usage", "sp_improvement_suggestions" ], "properties": { "sp_intended_usage": { "title": "What is the intended usage of this data?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Please describe how you plan to use the data extracted by this crawler." }, "sp_improvement_suggestions": { "title": "How can we improve this crawler for you?", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide any feedback or suggestions for improvements." }, "sp_contact": { "title": "Contact Email", "minLength": 1, "type": "string", "description": "Provide your email address so we can get in touch with you." }, "caseInstrument": { "title": "Case Instrument", "enum": [ "", "M", "AT", "CA", "SA" ], "type": "string", "description": "Which DG COMP instrument to query. Leave blank to query all instruments." }, "decisionType": { "title": "Decision Type Filter", "type": "string", "description": "Filter by decision type code (e.g. DecisionType20240 for simplified clearance). Leave blank for all." }, "country": { "title": "Member State Country Code", "type": "string", "description": "Two-letter ISO country code or CountryDEU/CountryFRA style code. Leave blank for all." }, "policyArea": { "title": "Policy Area / Sector", "type": "string", "description": "NACE sector substring (e.g. NaceV2Sector_K for Finance). Leave blank for all." }, "decisionDateFrom": { "title": "Decision Date From", "type": "string", "description": "Return cases with last decision on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "decisionDateTo": { "title": "Decision Date To", "type": "string", "description": "Return cases with last decision on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD)." }, "caseNumber": { "title": "Single Case Number", "type": "string", "description": "Fetch a specific case by number (e.g. M.10646). Ignores other filters." }, "searchText": { "title": "Full-Text Search", "type": "string", "description": "Full-text search across case titles and documents." }, "maxItems": { "title": "Max Items", "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum cases to return. 0 for unlimited.", "default": 15 }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "DG COMP API is an EU public service. No proxy required by default." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```