A decoding method for Versatile Video Coding, VVC, performed by a decoding apparatus, the method comprising: obtaining, from a bitstream, a combined inter-picture merge and intra-picture prediction, CIIP, enabled flag representing whether a CIIP is enabled, a general merge flag representing whether inter prediction parameters for a current block are inferred from a neighboring inter-predicted partition, and a skip flag representing whether a skip mode is applied to the current block; determining whether a regular merge mode is applied for the current block; and generating prediction samples of the current block based on the regular merge mode, wherein the determining comprises: obtaining a regular merge flag from the bitstream if a specific condition is satisfied, and determining that the regular merge mode is applied for the current block based on a value of the regular merge flag being equal to 1, and characterized in that the specific condition is satisfied when all of the following conditions are true: (i) a value of the CIIP enabled flag being equal to 1, (ii) a value of the general merge flag being equal to 1, (iii) a value of the skip flag being equal to 0, (iv) a product of a height of the current block and a width of the current block being greater than or equal to 64, (v) the height of the current block being smaller than 128, and (vi) the width of the current block being smaller than 128. obtaining, from a bitstream, a combined inter-picture merge and intra-picture prediction, CIIP, enabled flag representing whether a CIIP is enabled, a general merge flag representing whether inter prediction parameters for a current block are inferred from a neighboring inter-predicted partition, and a skip flag representing whether a skip mode is applied to the current block; determining whether a regular merge mode is applied for the current block; and generating prediction samples of the current block based on the regular merge mode, wherein the determining comprises: obtaining a regular merge flag from the bitstream if a specific condition is satisfied, and determining that the regular merge mode is applied for the current block based on a value of the regular merge flag being equal to 1, and characterized in that the specific condition is satisfied when all of the following conditions are true: (i) a value of the CIIP enabled flag being equal to 1, (ii) a value of the general merge flag being equal to 1, (iii) a value of the skip flag being equal to 0, (iv) a product of a height of the current block and a width of the current block being greater than or equal to 64, (v) the height of the current block being smaller than 128, and (vi) the width of the current block being smaller than 128. obtaining a regular merge flag from the bitstream if a specific condition is satisfied, and determining that the regular merge mode is applied for the current block based on a value of the regular merge flag being equal to 1, and characterized in that the specific condition is satisfied when all of the following conditions are true: (i) a value of the CIIP enabled flag being equal to 1, (ii) a value of the general merge flag being equal to 1, (iii) a value of the skip flag being equal to 0, (iv) a product of a height of the current block and a width of the current block being greater than or equal to 64, (v) the height of the current block being smaller than 128, and (vi) the width of the current block being smaller than 128. (i) a value of the CIIP enabled flag being equal to 1, (ii) a value of the general merge flag being equal to 1, (iii) a value of the skip flag being equal to 0, (iv) a product of a height of the current block and a width of the current block being greater than or equal to 64, (v) the height of the current block being smaller than 128, and (vi) the width of the current block being smaller than 128. <EOS>