Dr. Andrea Pomana and legal clerk Jennifer Nahrmann have written an article on the decision taken by the German Minister of Economics to grant ministerial permission in the merger between food retailers Edeka and Tengelmann – against the decision of the German Federal Cartel Office which prohibited the merger. The ministerial permission was granted under several conditions, particularly that Edeka secures 16,000 jobs at Tengelmann by concluding agreements with the relevant unions. The article analyzes whether the ministerial permission is legally permissible and within the boundaries set by the law for such exceptional decision.”