BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's top court says a decision by anti-trust regulators to block a merger between U.S. delivery giant UPS and Dutch firm TNT must be annulled.

The European Court of Justice confirmed Wednesday a lower court finding that UPS's rights to defense were infringed by the European Commission, which polices competition issues.

The Luxembourg-based ECJ says the blocking decision should be annulled if UPS can show that "it would have had the opportunity better to defend itself" if it had full access to Commission analysis of the merger.

The Commission said the planned merger would restrict express deliveries of small packages in Europe by reducing the number of players in the market, and so drive up prices.

But the EU's General Court annulled that decision last March.