Brussels, 26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the European Commission invited comments from interested parties on commitments proposed by four carmakers - DaimlerChrysler, Toyota, General Motors and Fiat - to give independent repair shops adequate access to technical information. Following an in-depth Commission investigation, the four carmakers proposed commitments to address the Commission's preliminary concern that they appeared not to have provided independent repairers with adequate access to technical information. Not having such access makes it more difficult for independent workshops to compete, thereby potentially limiting European consumers' choice of local repair shops. If the results of this market test are positive, the Commission intends to adopt decisions under Article 9, §1 of Regulation 1/2003 declaring the four sets of commitments to be binding. These decisions would bring the proceedings in the four cases to an end. Article 9 decisions find that there are no longer grounds for action by the Commission, without concluding whether or not there has been or still is an infringement. However, if commitments given in the context of such a decision are broken, the Commission may impose on the party in question a fine amounting to 10% of total worldwide turnover without having to prove that there has been an infringement of anti-trust rules. Details of the proposed commitments are available on the Europa website: http: //ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/sectors/motor_vehicles/overview_en.html (ol)