News
The European Commission (DG Competition) has unveiled roadmaps on evaluation of consortia block exemption regulation. The roadmap aims to inform stakeholders about the commission's plans in order to allow them to provide feedback on the intended initiative and to participate effectively in future consultation activities. Citizens and stakeholders are invited to provide views to make available any relevant information they may have by June 4, 2018.
The first Consortia Block Exemption Regulation, known as Consortia BER (Commission Regulation 870/95), was adopted in 1995 and has since been prolonged and amended 4 times. The current enabling Council Regulation 246/2009 provides that the commission may, by way of Regulation, exempt consortia agreements from the application of Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) for a period limited to five years with the possibility of prolongation. Accordingly, the commission has adopted the current Consortia BER, Commission Regulation 906/2009, which sets the specific conditions for the Article 101(3) exemption of consortia agreements. These conditions aim at ensuring that consumers enjoy a fair share of the resulting benefits. The Consortia BER will expire on April 25, 2020, and the proposed evaluation is scheduled to be finalized before the expiry date.
