If they are not products, the amendment would import an exception into the Competition Act that would undermine the key and widely accepted competition law concept of requiring a product in order to define a relative product market.

Where an NRA intends to (i) define a relevant market which differs from the Commission's Recommendation on markets susceptible to ex-ante regulation (C(2003)497), or (ii) decide whether or not to designate an undertaking as having, either individually or jointly with others, significant market power, it must notify the Commission and other NRAs under the Article 7 procedure.

NRAs should thus commence the exercise of defining the relevant product or service market by grouping together products or services that are used by consumers for the same purposes (end use).

Although the SSNIP test is but one example of methods used for defining the relevant market and notwithstanding its formal econometric nature, or its margins for errors (the so-called "cellophane fallacy", see below), its importance lies primarily in its use as a conceptual tool for assessing evidence of competition between different products or services.

Notifying parties must describe the relevant product markets and geographical markets; where it is difficult to define the relevant markets, the simplified procedure will not be applied.

The main priorities in this connection are: - completing the liberalization of public procurement; - finalizing the opening-up of financial services; - consolidating the Community framework for company law; - bringing in rules on direct taxation of companies; - defining requirements for the protection of personal data; - pressing ahead with the harmonization of conditions for placing pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs on the market; - creating a Community trademark and patent (c) Ensuring, in liaison with the Member States, that Community rules are transposed and applied Now that the idea of a Single Market is coming to fruition, the C ...[+++]ommission will be turning its attention to the management tasks associated with the functioning of this new entity.