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ARTICLE · 10 MAY 2010

Commission Consults On Proposed New Regime For Cooperation Between Competitors

SJ Berwin LLP
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The European Commission is updating and clarifying its rules on cooperation agreements between competing companies (known as horizontal cooperation agreements) and has published for comment new draft regulations and guidelines.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
SJ Berwin'S EU & Competition Team
SJ Berwin'S EU & Competition Team

The European Commission is updating and clarifying its rules on cooperation agreements between competing companies (known as horizontal cooperation agreements) and has published for comment new draft regulations and guidelines.

An earlier informal consultation, launched in December 2008, indicated that the current system is generally working well but that some of the more complex areas need revision. In line with this, the proposed changes are largely evolutionary, picking up on current case law and practice, although a key new section on information exchange has been added - an aspect on which there has been minimal guidance to date.

The current rules are contained in two block exemption regulations (on R&D agreements and specialisation agreements) ("BERs") which are due to expire at the end of this year. These two BERs exempt R&D, specialisation and joint production agreements from the EU's general ban on restrictive practices provided certain conditions are met.

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