Brussels, 12/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 11 July, the European Commission launched a consultation exercise on a proposal to revise its guidance notice for deciding whether minor agreements between companies are covered by the general prohibition of anti-competitive agreements under EU competition law. With the help of market thresholds, the current “de minimis” notice of 2011 defines what the Commission considers is not an appreciable restriction of competition. It is planning to make the current guidelines compatible with the category exemptions introduced in 2010 for distribution agreements for goods and services and “horizontal” agreements, and also with the Court of Justice's 2012 Expedia ruling (case C-226/11, see EUROPE 10684 and 10752) that established that a restriction with an anti-competitive object constitutes, by its very nature, an appreciable restriction of competition, even if it is below the 10% mark laid down in the de minimis rules. The Commission is planning to publish a report in 2014 aligning the rules with the court case and taking account of comments received in the consultation exercise, which runs until 3 October. (FG/transl.fl)