Brussels, 20/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - The day after Deutsche Börse lodged an appeal at the European General Court, the European Commission said on Tuesday 20 March that it would be defending its refusal (announced last month) to reject the planned merger of the Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext stock exchanges (see EUROPE 10544). “We'll defend our decision in Court. It was the right decision because this merger, if it had taken place, would have created a near monopoly on a global market, which is the market of exchange-traded derivatives. This would have harmed thousands of companies which use these products to hedge their risks. We fully stand by our decision and we'll defend it before the Court,” said a European Commission spokesperson. Deutsche Borse says that various aspects of the Commission's decision are incorrect, pointing out that the derivatives market is global, rather than just European, and most derivatives are sold over the counter, rather than on stock exchanges. (MB/transl.fl)