During the lecture, Rating told attendees that competition law can be regarded as one of the ideals of the Treaty on European Union, under the terms of which each of the 28 Member States is entitled to exercise national jurisdiction.

He went on to discuss the three broad areas of competition law: anti-competitive conduct, mergers and State aid.

As Rating said, “The clearest criterion for determining if a company is unaffected by the competition is whether or not that company can survive independently of the competition”.

He went on to say, "The presence of a dominant company does not work against free competition when its dominance is achieved independently, but it would not be lawful for a company to obtain full market control through concentration, in other words, by buying out its competitors”.

Dr. Rating specializes in competition and regulatory law in Spain and the European Union, primarily in the pharmaceutical and telecommunications fields. He was a civil servant at the European Commission for 14 years. He was Van Miert’s spokesman in the Directorate-General for Competition and a member of the Legal Service.