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ARTICLE · 28 FEBRUARY 2022

Government Publishes Draft Vertical Block Exemption Order Set To Replace Retained EU Law

Shepherd and Wedderburn
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The UK Government has published a draft Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (VABEO), which will replace the retained EU Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (VABER) when it expires on 31 May 2022.

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Gordon Downie
Gordon Downie
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The UK Government has published a draft Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order (VABEO), which will replace the retained EU Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Regulation (VABER) when it expires on 31 May 2022. The purpose of the VABEO is to ensure that businesses in a 'vertical' relationship with each other are not prevented or disincentivised from entering into agreements that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) considers to be overall beneficial and not anti-competitive.

This article summarises the background and key changes.

Background

Competition law seeks to ensure market failures are prevented or remedied by prohibiting agreements between businesses that prevent, restrict or distort competition. However, certain categories of agreements may be exempted from the prohibition where their pro-competitive benefits outweigh their anti-competitive effects. This includes vertical agreements that meet certain conditions.

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