Blow for Monti as Court rules against Brussels in merger case

Brussels was wrong to rule against a takeover bid involving US telecoms giant WorldCom - now MCI - and its rival Sprint, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled today (28 September).

The two companies wrote to the Commission on 27 June, 2000, to withdraw their merger notification after Mario Monti - Brussels' competition commissioner - said he was prepared to block the deal in the interests of European consumers.

But the next day, the Commission moved to block the merger anyw...