Examples of Block Exemptions in a sentence
In addition, before the Reform, only three Block Exemptions were adapted for vertical distribution systems, which were all in regard to bilateral agreements of final goods.
Through the notification system, the Commission obtained essential information about different practices in the market to be used in the adoption of a suitable competition policy and in surveying the need for Block Exemptions.
Under the old Block Exemptions there was no space for severability as an agreement had to comply with all conditions laid down in order to benefit from the exemption.
The Commission by providing a simplified procedure through the Block Exemptions or the Comfort Letter, and the ECJ by reducing the scope of the prohibition in Article 81(1).
It also appears from case law that undertakings could not ‘pick and mix’ from within the Block Exemptions, but had to demonstrate that the entire agreement benefited from the provisions of only one of the Regulations.81 The division of agreements into different groups was based on the backlog of notifications that the Commission had received over the years and did not necessarily show much of economic or commercial reality.
Secondly, it is considerablly wider in scope than the old Block Exemptions which allows a greater number of agreements to benefit from the legal certainty that the Block Exemption provides.
The new Block Exemption applies to: ‘agreements or concerted practices entered into between two or more undertakings each of which operates, for the purpose of the agreement, at a different level of the production or distribution chain, and relating to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell or resell certain goods or services’ The new single exemption is considerably wider in scope than the old system of several Block Exemptions.
The benefits of bringing an agreement within the terms of one of the old Block Exemptions were such that they became, in effect, standard-term models for all distribution contracts.
The remainder of this chapter will therefore describe and analyse the regulatory framework of Article 101 (1) and the exemptions under Article 101 (3), the EU 2000 R&D Block Exemptions, 165 the EU 2001 Horizontal Cooperation Guidelines 166 and an analysis of relevant case law.
However, even though the R&D Block Exemptions is an significant improvement compared to the previous situation, considerable scope remains open for its interpretation.