COPENHAGEN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - EU merger rules do not

prevent telecoms operators from scaling up through acquisitions,

a senior European Commission antitrust official said on

Wednesday, rejecting criticism from the European industry about

the tough approach by regulators.

More than 20 of Europe's biggest telecoms providers on

Tuesday called on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to

ease merger rules to boost investment in digital infrastructure

and help them compete with U.S. and Asian rivals.

"I need to remind everyone from time to time, that merger

control is not about scale as such. There is no problem with

scale as such. The issue is always market power," said Deputy

Director-General for mergers Guillaume Loriot.

Europe's telecoms sector has long chafed at EU regulators'

tough line against four-to-three mergers, which companies say

are needed to increase scale, over price hike concerns.

"Merger control is not a hurdle to scaling up provided that

you don't have excessive market power in those markets where it

may happen," said Loriot.

EU regulators see the scale up argument as more relevant in

deals involving startups not established players, he said.

"We are looking very closely at the issue of the

acquisitions of innovative players and startups. For the vast

majority it's not an issue but there are those deals in nascent

markets where we need to be vigilant," he added.