If a merger is prohibited by the Federal Cartel Office, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs may nevertheless authorise it in exceptional cases – provided that overriding public interest considerations outweigh the competition concerns. The instrument of ministerial authorisation thus represents a far-reaching means of political intervention. Under Section 42(5), first sentence, of the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB), the Monopolies Commission is legally obliged, in the ministerial authorisation procedure, to weigh up the competition-related and public interest aspects of the merger in question and to issue an independent recommendation.