BRUSSELS—The European Commission has pushed back to Feb. 26 the deadline by which it will review the proposed €46 billion ($54 billion) merger of Essilor and Luxottica. The new deadline is an extension of 10 working days over the Commission’s previously announced deadline.

VMail reported last month that the Commission, which serves as the competition watchdog for the European Union, has opened an in-depth investigation to assess the proposed merger between Essilor and Luxottica under the EU Merger Regulation. EU regulators said they need to scrutinize the proposed merger in order to determine if it would lead to higher prices or reduced choices for opticians and ultimately consumers.