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ARTICLE · 11 DECEMBER 2020

The EU Competition Regime For Vertical Agreements: (high) Time For A Digital Update?

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The European Commission ("Commission") is reviewing the application of EU competition law to distribution, purchasing and other so-called ‘vertical' agreements given that the current regime...

United KingdomAntitrust/Competition Law
Warsha Kalé
Warsha Kalé
Alexandra Aninoiu
Alexandra Aninoiu
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The European Commission (“Commission”) is reviewing the application of EU competition law to distribution, purchasing and other so-called ‘vertical' agreements given that the current regime will expire in 2022.  To date, the signs are encouraging in terms of updating the current rules to address developments in digital distribution and provide greater legal certainty in an online environment.  However, UK businesses will not be able to benefit domestically from the EU reforms when they are finally expected to come into force in May 2022, unless and until the UK government decides to enshrine the new rules in UK law (or develops its own equivalents).

The existing EU regime comprises the vertical block exemption regulation (“VBER”) and its accompanying guidelines (“Vertical Guidelines”).  The VBER is a so-called ‘block exemption', providing a safe harbour under EU competition law for certain categories of agreements between businesses active at different levels of the

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