Brussels, 05/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 4 May, the European Commission published draft Regulations and Guidelines for the assessment of cooperation agreements between competitors, so-called “horizontal cooperation agreements”. The objective of the proposals is to update and clarify the application of competition rules in this area and to ensure their continuing relevance in the changing economy of today. Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia, Vice-President of the Commission, stated: “Innovation and competitiveness are fundamental to the Commission's EUROPE 2020 strategy. Efficiency enhancing co-operation agreements between competitors, and in particular R&D and standardisation agreements, can further innovation and competitiveness in Europe. An updated set of rules in this area will ensure that we are facilitating competitor collaboration where it contributes to economic welfare without creating a risk for competition.'
Guidance for the assessment of horizontal co-operation agreements is currently given by way of two “block exemption” Regulations (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2659/2000 on research and development (R&D) agreements and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 2658/2000 on specialisation agreements) and the accompanying “Horizontal Guidelines”. The two regulations exempt research and development as well as specialisation and joint production agreements from the EU's general ban on restrictive business practices, provided they meet all conditions set out in the Regulations. The Horizontal Guidelines provide an analytical framework for the assessment of the most common types of horizontal co-operation agreements such as research and development agreements, production agreements, purchasing agreement, commercialisation agreements and standardisation agreements.
As the two current Regulations will expire on 31 December, the Commission has started to review the rules applicable to horizontal co-operation agreements in December 2008 with a wide-ranging consultation of European companies and member states' competition authorities. It showed that the current regime was regarded as working well but that some areas would merit a revision. To this end, the Horizontal Guidelines have been extensively revised in order to help companies to assess with greater certainty whether or not an agreement is restrictive of competition and, if so, whether it would qualify for an exemption.
A key issue being addressed is standard-setting arrangements. Standards are becoming increasingly important in facilitating innovation (in particular in the IT sector), and an efficient, open and transparent standard-setting process is key to ensure effective competition.
Other major proposals for changes to the existing set of rules include 1) In the guidelines: the inclusion of a chapter on the assessment of information exchange between companies; guidance on standard terms in the chapter on standardisation; and clarification of the application of the competition rules to agreements between joint ventures and their parents; and 2) In the regulations: disclosure of relevant intellectual property rights and readjustment of the 'hardcore' restrictions (in the R&D block exemption Regulation); introduction of a second market share threshold for specialisation and joint production agreements pertaining to products used for internal consumption (in the Specialisation block Exemption Regulation); and clarifications to the notion of "potential competitor", with the introduction of a three year timeframe for future market entry (in both regulations).
The revised texts are intended to replace the expiring Regulations and the current version of the Horizontal Guidelines. They can be found online at http: //ec.europa.eu/competition/consultations/2010_horizontals/index.html Comments can be addressed to the Commission until 25 June. After the public consultation exercise and in line with stakeholder comments, the Commission will unveil the final version of the draft legislation at the end of the year. (F.G./transl.fl)