Intrade offers a full trading platform so you can get in and out of positions even before the expiration date whereas Bets of Bitcoin offers an allocated payout of losing bets based on weighted time of entry and shares commission with the bet creator.

FORBES: Prediction Market 'Bets Of Bitcoin' Available To U.S. Customers

In monopolistic cases, according to Almunia, the commission must consider barriers to entry to competitors, whether a company can use its dominant position to affect the status of other companies, and the ease of consumers to switch between services.

FORBES: EU Takes Aim At Search Engines

They can see that the future of the European Union is up for grabs: its expansion is coinciding with final negotiations on a new constitution, the appointment of a new commission and the decision on whether to open entry negotiations with Turkey.

ECONOMIST: The disintegrating European Commission

Roelie Post, who as a European Commission official dealt with adoption in the run-up to Romania's entry to the European Union, has written a book on her experience of dealing with what she sees as a powerful adoption lobby that preys on weak and poor countries.

ECONOMIST: International adoption