Antitrust breaches in the U.S. are seen as immoral, whereas in Europe it has been part of doing business. |
Law is of limited use in the immediate future. A key issue is whether diplomacy will prevail, because without that there is a threat to the whole European project. |
One can only take the view that Microsoft's perception is that the damage must be very significant, or they simply wouldn't be holding out in this way. |
The basic policy is to identify high-profile candidates. |
The door is now open to some kinds of corporate activity with very few checks. Scrutiny by the court is good, but one consequence is that you almost have the death of control over mergers. |
The typical experience with hearings is that they are set piece theatre. You have a sense this is really a foregone conclusion and they're just going through the motions. |