The General Court of the EU (EGC) ruled that the European Commission was right to reject the complaint brought by the European Confederation of Watch & Clock Repairers' Associations (known by its French acronym, CEAHR) against producers of luxury watches, such as LVMH and Rolex, in a judgment returned on Monday 23 October (case T-712/14).
According to the General Court, the Commission was right in taking the view that the selective repair systems set in place by these producers were proportionate and justified in order to fight counterfeiting.
In 2004, the CEAHR brought its first complaint against the manufacturers in question, arguing the existence of concerted practices and abuse of dominant position resulting from the producers' refusal to continue to supply spare parts to independent watch repairers. In 2008, the Commission rejected the complaint on the grounds of insufficient interest in the matter for the EU, but the EGC disagreed in its initial judgment. In 2014, the Commission again rejected the CEAHR's case, referring to the disproportionate nature of the resources that a more detailed investigation would require in relation to the low likelihood of establishing the existence of any breach of EU competition rules (see EUROPE 11132).
On Monday, the EGC rejected the watch and clock repairers' complaint, as it considers that the Commission was right in its assessment that the selective repair systems in question were objectively justified, non-discriminatory and proportionate. According to the EGC, the CEAHR failed to justify its argument that controlling the supply of spare parts is unlikely to limit the counterfeiting of such parts. Nor was the Commission incorrect in observing that the refusal to continue to supply spare parts did not stem from the producers' intention of acting in concert to eliminate any competition. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)