Vertical Agreement

One of the obligations accepted by the Commission was that Apple and the publishers would terminate e-book agency contracts which provided publishers, as principals, with the determination of consumer prices (see questions 19 to 22) and contained most-favoured-nation clauses (see questions 24 and 25). Is there a block exemption or a safe port which, under certain conditions, gives undertakings guarantees as to the legality of vertical restraints? If so, please explain how this block exemption or safe haven works. Are there general exceptions to the anti-dominant rules for certain types of agreements that contain vertical restraints? If so, please describe. The supplier`s market position, the market position of other suppliers and the structure of the relevant market will be particularly important in determining whether the restriction offers the parties to the agreement the possibility of eliminating competition. Is the sole objective pursued by the Law on Vertical Restraints economic or is it also aimed at promoting or protecting other interests? The Commission`s vertical guidelines also specify that the inclusion of a hardcore restriction in a vertical agreement effectively results in a reversal of the burden of proof. Unless the parties concerned are able to demonstrate that the basic restriction leads to pro-competitive efficiency gains, Article 101(1) allows the Commission to accept negative effects on competition instead of being obliged to demonstrate it. “Vertical compliance.” Merriam-Webster.com Legal Dictionary, Webster merriam, www.merriam-webster.com/legal/vertical%20agreement. Retrieved November 27, 2020. However, the ECJ`s GlaxoSmithKline judgment also emphasises that the Commission is required to properly examine the arguments and evidence put forward by a party in the context of the Article 101(3) examination of the advisability of a derogation from the prohibition laid down in Article 101(1).

Vertical agreements are widely accepted, as they impose fewer competition concerns than horizontal agreements. Horizontal agreements are concluded between two current or potential competitors. What is the test for determining whether a vertical restraint in your jurisdiction is subject to antitrust law? Has the law been applied extraterritorially in your jurisdiction with respect to vertical restraints? Has it been applied in a purely internet-looking context and, if so, what factors are considered relevant in the examination of jurisdiction? This is an area on which the Commission is focusing. Restrictions that prevent a buyer from selling contract products from one EU Member State to another may be one of the most serious breaches of Article 101. Such agreements are subject to enhanced scrutiny by the Commission, which aims to eliminate the EU, to restore the divisions between national markets that the EU wants to lift. Nevertheless, in its final report in the May 2017 e-commerce sector inquiry, the Commission found that more than 11% of retailers said they had contractual restrictions on cross-border selling in at least one product category in which they operate in the EU. Where an agreement is covered by Article 101(1), the vertical guidelines also define the issues that determine whether an agreement complies with Article 101(3) (and therefore may benefit from a derogation from the prohibition in Article 101(1):if none of the above criteria is met, an agreement with a vertical restraint may: shall be subject to review in accordance with Article 101. A number of measures must be taken to determine whether and how Article 101 may apply to a vertical restraint.

Provided that they do not contain basic restrictions (as defined in the Block Exemption Regulations), several vertical agreements may benefit from the Block Exemption Shield, thus circumventing the prohibition in Article 4. . . .