A single meeting between rival companies can constitute illegal anticompetitive behavior, Europe's highest court ruled Thursday.

The case concerns a 2001 meeting between five mobile telephone operators in the Netherlands -Ben Nederland, now T-Mobile International; KPN Mobile NV; Dutchtone, now Orange; Libertel-Vodafone, now Vodafone and Telfort Mobile - which was held to discuss a commission to be paid to retailers as of September 2001.

"A single meeting between companies may constitute a concerted practise in breach of (European ) Community competition law," the court said in a statement.

The case will now go back to the Dutch court for a final ruling.

-By Mike Gordon, Dow Jones Newswires; +352 691 180 766; mgordon.dowjones@gmail.com