The Competition Council (the CC) invites companies to fill in an electronically available questionnaire to apply to the authority's planned seminars on vertical agreements which has been concluded by two or more independent market participants, each operating at a different level of production or distribution, and possible competition risks. A series of seminars on vertical agreements are planned to be held in autumn of 2022.
Vertical agreements between market participants are not prohibited, but market participants are obliged to assess whether the agreement does not constitute a restriction of competition under both the national Competition Law and Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and is therefore prohibited.
For example, the following restrictions are considered to be prohibited conditions for vertical agreements:
- for setting a fixed or minimum resale price to the buyer;
- a restriction on passive sales in exclusive territories or exclusive customer groups reserved by the supplier to itself or assigned to another buyer;
- a ban on members of a selective distribution network carrying on an economic activity at the retail level from making active or passive sales to final customers or from each other;
- a ban on the supplier selling components as spare parts to end users and unauthorized repairers;
- a ban on buyers using the internet effectively, for example by restricting the buyer's ability to advertise online, etc. rules.
Given that the Vertical block exemption regulation and the Guidelines on Vertical Restraints, in which the European Commission has given a new interpretation to vertical agreements, entered into force on 1 June 2022, it is particularly important for companies to apply for the CC’s seminars.