The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Norwegian company Trolltech by the Finnish company Nokia. Nokia is mainly active in the development and supply of mobile handsets and Trolltech is a supplier of software development tools, that is software used to develop software. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition within the European Economic Area (EEA) or a substantial part of it.

While the activities of Nokia and Trolltech do not overlap horizontally, they are vertically related, as Trolltech's products can be used in the development of software for mobile handsets.F

• Nokia is active worldwide in the development and supply of mobile handsets, mobile and fixed telecom networks and associated services and internet-based services.
• Trolltech develops and supplies software development tools, which can be used for desktop computers and Linux-operated communication devices.

However, the Commission's investigation showed that Trolltech's products have a limited market presence and that Nokia's competitors would have several credible alternatives to Trolltech's products, if, after the transaction Nokia were to decide to no longer supply Trolltech's products to rival handset manufacturers. Such alternatives include, amongst others, Purple Labs, MIZI Research, Access Linux Platform, Azingo Mobile, the GNOME Mobile Platform and the LiMO platform, a platform released by the LiMo Foundation, a global consortium of mobile network operators and handset manufacturers, including Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung and Vodafone.

What is the European Economic Area?

The Agreement creating the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) was negotiated between the Community, the then Member States, and 7 member countries of the EFTA and was signed in May 1992. Subsequently, Switzerland decided not to participate following a referendum, and three others joined the EU. The EEA Agreement entered into force on 1 January 1994.