Brussels, 16/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - In a speech to the Paris School of Mines on 16 January, Commissioner Monti gave a taster of the new block exemptions in licensing, to enter into force on 1 May. The 1996 regulation has been undergoing revision since 2001, in order to bring up to date provisions which have become too strict and too abstract (EUROPE of 9 January 2002, p.13). During the consultation procedure which was launched on 3 October, the Commission has looked at the comments and then made a few changes to the package it is to submit to the Member States on 18 February.
Most interested parties agree with the Commission that there should be a distinction between licensing between competitors and non-competitors. Agreements between competitors are much more likely to restrict competition, for example by dividing markets by allocating territories or clients and setting prices, said Mario Monti. Although the Commission sees nothing wrong in agreements between competitors, they should not be allowed to control over 20% of the market. In case of agreements between concurrent businesses, this may be 30%. Many comments state that these thresholds are too low, and others suggest abolishing them outright because they "undermine chances of success". The Commission will not follow these suggestions, and will stick to its proposals, which are close to American rules in force". "The market share thresholds are not the difference between good and bad agreements. They just create protection for restriction types and situations in which the Commission can assume (that there is no illegality)", said Mr Monti. In conclusion, "the proposed regulation will allow companies to do more than ever before (...) the package will provide an important degree of convergence between the policies of the European and American competition authorities towards licensing", said Commissioner Monti.