The Commission's investigation showed that new competitors would be unlikely to enter the market successfully enough to pose a credible competitive threat to the merged company. Therefore, the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext, has been prohibited by the Commission. In addition, the Commission has opened a formal investigation to assess whether Samsung Electronics has abusively used certain of its standard essential patent rights to distort competition in European mobile device markets.

On the basis of the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext has been blocked by the European Commission. According to the Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia, the merger between both companies would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide. Together, the two exchanges control more than 90% of global trade in these products. The Commission's investigation showed that new competitors would be unlikely to enter the market successfully enough to pose a credible competitive threat to the merged company.

The Commission also stresses that the proposed merger would have eliminated this global competition and created a quasi-monopoly in a number of asset classes, leading to significant harm to derivatives users and the European economy as a whole. The benefits of price competition would be taken away from customers, with no effective competitive constraint left in the market. There would also be less innovation in an area where a competitive market is vital for both SMEs and larger firms.

On the other hand, a formal investigation has been opened by the Commission to assess whether Samsung Electronics has abusively, and in contravention of a commitment it gave to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), used certain of its standard essential patent rights to distort competition in European mobile device markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules. In September 2011, it opened an antitrust investigation on the standardisation process for e-payments. The opening of proceedings means that the Commission will examine the case as a matter of priority but it does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.