anti-trust query

if a group of separate businesses join togethet to form an alliance to offer better services to customers and reduce operating costs, it is not allowed to jointly agree customer prices without EU agreement.<P>does the same apply on the supplier side and why.<P>businesses are continually trying to reduce costs and formaing an alliance is one way to do it. hence using economies of scale to reduce costs should be a valid way of doing so.<P>i am informed that this is agaist EU policy. <P>can u kindly advise/clairy.<P>best regards. <br>john lyons<br>