As far as cartels are concerned, the highest fine - 1.38 billion euros - was slapped in 2008 on four car manufacturers which connived to keep prices artificially high.

Other notable victims of Kroes' wrath include energy giants E.ON of Germany and Gaz de France.

The proceeds of the commission's anti-trust fines feed into the EU budget, meaning member states have to contribute correspondingly smaller amounts the following year.

The 2008 report for the first time estimates the harm caused by cartels to consumers by looking at 18 cases subject to commission decisions between 2005 and 2007.

Assuming an overcharge of between five and 15 percent, the harm caused by these cartels ranged from four to 11 billion euros, with a median figure of 7.6 billion euros.

However, the report warned that 'even this figure is probably too low ... since economic literature on the subject suggests that the average overcharge in prices can be as high as 20 to 25 percent'.

According to the 2008 report, the commission has also recovered more than nine billion euros in illegal and incompatible state aid since 2000.

Kroes, however, last year agreed to relax its office's strict state-aid rules to help governments rescue banks which fell victim to the global credit crunch.