violation of competition rules

What the Commission should do in terms of competition policy, on a case by case basis and in the situation you have imagined, Mr Rübig, is see whether there have been specific violations of competition rules.

Please allow me to remind you that, in the event of very serious violations of competition rules, the Commission imposes fines of the basic sum for each participant, in principle, of a minimum of EUR 20 million.

A very clear distinction must be drawn between, on the one hand, the whole business of investigating violations of competition rules following allegedly irregular behaviour and, on the other, the normal process of monitoring a merger, which should, as a matter of principle, be accepted as legal and in accordance with the rules governing the market.