European regulators have cleared Paramount Skydance’s $110bn (£85bn) acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, although the mega-merger still faces a legal hurdle in the US.

The European Commission gave the green light after Paramount agreed to end a major film distribution partnership with Universal Pictures in Europe. Paramount will break the agreement within 13 months and will not be able to launch a similar company for 10 years.

Watchdogs were concerned that sharing distribution with a rival would give the combined media giant too much control over film releases.

However, European approval is only half the battle, as the agreement remains stalled in the United States.

Although the U.S. Department of Justice said in June that it supported the merger, a coalition of 12 U.S. states filed a lawsuit last week to block the deal.

They argue that the merger would cause “substantial harm to movie theaters, basic cable distributors and, ultimately, audiences across the country.”

Days later, U.S. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín temporarily halted the takeover so those legal claims could be considered.

“The TRO itself is just a brief pause and does not decide the case, but it indicates that the court takes the states’ theatrical market theory seriously,” said Alon Kapen, corporate transactions attorney at Farrell Fritz.

Delays could carry a high price.

If the deal is not completed by September 30, Paramount will have to pay Warner Bros shareholders an “operating fee” of approximately $7 per day until it closes.

The acquisition is also opposed by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which warns that the deal threatens jobs and wages.

In a statement following the states’ legal filing, WGA head Tom Fontana said the merged company would have “tremendous power to suppress our salaries” and “eliminate opportunities for emerging writers.”

Meanwhile, U.K. regulators are weighing their own intervention amid concerns about local news, children’s television and streaming competition.

Paramount maintains that the merger will benefit moviegoers and promises to release at least 30 films in theaters each year, double its current output.