The new rule is yet to come into play, however, following the filing of an objection to the policy by the NFL Players Association. .
In making his remarks, Mr. Almunia could prompt Gazprom to make an offer to settle the case before filing a statement of objections.
Creditors and suppliers of Nortel Networks filed a series of objections to the proposed sale of a unit of the bankrupt telecom equipment maker to Nokia Siemens Networks.
The arbitrators' final ruling, which has not been issued, would be binding, but the union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, has filed a list of objections, and one union strategist said leaders are still hoping to win a larger raise.
Apple has already filed a list of objections to the settlement.
AT&T and others encouraged a federal court to reject MCI's big civil settlement with the Securities & Exchange Commission as insufficient, and filed a flurry of objections to its reorganization plan.
An elector may also "file an objection against another elector" by filing an "affidavit of objection with the returning officer" after the issue of writs until 14 days before an election to dispute the eligibility of that individual as an elector.
The research firm gives points to all companies it scrutinizes, measuring the value of patents filed by the number of objections from competing companies, for example.
A commission official in Brussels who requested anonymity because he had not been authorized to speak about the case confirmed that Mr. Almunia would file a so-called statement of objections, a formal list of regulators' concerns.
Nevertheless, even before the Statement of Objections was filed, we changed practices the Commission takes issue with, so we hope to resolve this case quickly," said a Google spokeswoman.
