Brussels, 13/05/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has suspended the probe into the acquisition of the Finnish medical equipment manufacturer, Instrumentarium, by General Electric ("stop clock" measure). A decision is expected for 18 August at the latest. The Commission has requested that General Electric provide additional information on this operation and the suspension of proceedings will allow the US group to have more time for forming adequate responses. According to the Reuters agency, the Commission is committed to organising a meeting between GE and third parties in an effort to enable the group to respond more accurately to the criticism of it made by its competitors. This meeting is expected to take place before the possible sending out of a communiqué of complaints, formally warning the parties of the points in litigation. A detailed and constant dialogue between all parties affected by mergers, is planned by Commissioner Monti in the new "Mergers Regulation", which is expected to enter into force in May 2004.