For the PR people to say that the Phase 2 Investigation into the proposed take-over by Haliburton is "standard procedure" is a bit of a fabrication. Betweeen 21/09/1990 and 31/01/2016 there have been 6096 mergers/takeover considered by the EU. Only 239, ie 3.9% have caused a Phase 2 investigation to be initiated. The statistics can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/statistics.pdf.
A Phase 2 investigation is only initiated when there is serious doubt about the mergers effect on competition.