This would boost agency capacity, improve transparency in the decision making and prevent political interference. In addition, given the Dutch hospital market’s long-standing tradition of collective bargaining, concerted practice and substantial entry barriers, the Competition Authority should rather risk being too restrictive than too permissive when assessing hospital mergers (Varkevisser and Schut, 2012). In 2010, however, the regulator found that the production of services in the segment B increased by 8.6%, a much higher rate than in the segment A (NZa 201 lb).