She’s mad as hell and she’s not going to take it anymore…and now she’s going to “fight like hell” to do something about it. Apparently a record-breaking fine of $1.3 billion against elevator cartels didn’t get the message across as clear as she’d like (note: fines levied against cartels could be as steep as 10 percent of annual global sales), she’s hoping to use new European guidelines that could double fines against repeat offenders and multiply penalties against big companies.

Many experts argued that the European Court of First Instance’s ruling against Microsoft this year would embolden the European Commission (and Neelie Kroes) to become much more aggressive in big-business litigation and, for the moment, it would seem they are right. For example, the EU gave Google “one of very few major business challenges” in the company’s history when competition authorities at the European Commission didn’t approve Google’s acquisition of online advertising company DoubleClick.

There is a method to her madness, however, as Kroes and the Commission’s actions are successfully putting the European Union’s antitrust authority into international celebrity as other countries around the world (such as South Korea) begin to model their own systems off the European style – and as their U.S. counterpart loses its influence.