large number of commercial agency contracts can be removed from

IDI Annual Congress
June 2010
Jaap van Till
[email protected]
De Lairessestraat 131 – 135
1070 AS Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel.: + 31 20 470 01 77
Fax: +31 20 671 09 74
www.vantill.nl
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COMMISSION’S NOTICE OF 24 DECEMBER 1962
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PITTSBURGH CORNING EUROPE [1972] OJ L272/35
Economic reality of a commercial relationship is
decisive, not the designation given to that relationship
by the parties
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SUIKER UNIE V. COMMISSION
Judgment of the European Court of Justice
of 16 December 1975 (ECR 1663)
Undertakings acting as agents for each other,
and also as principals on their own account, are
independent traders to whom Art. 81 (now Art.
101) applies
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FLEMISH TRAVEL AGENTS
[1987] Case 311/85, ECR 3801
Prohibiting independent travel agents to pass
commissions on to customers and thereby
cutting prices is incompatible with Art. 81 (1)
[now Art. 101 (1)]
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BUNDESKARTELLAMT V. VOLKSWAGEN (1995)
Opinion of Advocate General Tesauro
“…….a search for universal parameters capable
of providing a general answer to all agency
contracts is doomed to fail.”
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COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE [2006], ECR I – 11987
DaimlerChrysler
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SPANISH PETROL STATIONS, , PRELIMINARY RULINGS
IN 2006 (CASE C-217/05) AND 2008 (CASE C-279/06)
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COMMISSION’S APPROACH IN THE 2000 GUIDELINES AND
THE 2010 GUIDELINES
Commercial Agency Contracts are identified by the
amount of risk assumed by the agent.
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GUIDELINES 2000
Non-exhaustive list of risks:
-
-
risks related to the contracts concluded and/or
negotiated by the agent (e.g. financing of stocks)
Risks related to market-specific investments (e.g.
showrooms)
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GUIDELINES 2010
One additional third kind of risks:
-
risks related to other activities undertaken in the
same product market, to the extent that the
principal requires the agent to undertake such
activities, but not as an agent on behalf of the
principal but for its own risk
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GUIDELINES 2000
If one or more of the risks or costs are incurred, Art.
101 (1) may apply
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GUIDELINES 2010
Where one or more of the risks or costs are incurred,
the agreement will not be qualified as a commercial
agency contract
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WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?
No flexibility !
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COMMISSION’S NOTICE OF DECEMBER 2001 ON
AGREEMENTS OF MINOR IMPORTANCE
15% relevant market-share for Vertical Agreements
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COMMISSION’S NOTICE OF 2004 WITH GUIDELINES ON
“THE EFFECT ON TRADE CONCEPT”
CONTAINED IN ART. 101
Aggregate market-share of the parties on any
relevant market ≤ 5%
Aggregate community turonver of the supplier
in the products ≤ 40 million
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LARGE NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL AGENCY CONTRACTS
CAN BE REMOVED FROM THE SCOPE OF ART. 101 (1)
WHEN TAKING THE TWO RELEVANT COMMISSION’S
NOTICES INTO CONSIDERATION
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GUIDELINES 2010, §49
Where an agency agreement falls within Art. 101 (1), an
obligation preventing or restricting the agent from
sharing his commission, fixed or variable, with the
customer would be a hardcore restriction under Art. 4
(a) of the Block Exemption Regulation
The agent should thus be left free to lower the effective
price paid by the customer without reducing the income
for the principal
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COMMERCIAL AGENCY CONTRACTS UNABLE TO BENEFIT
FROM THE NOTICES OF 2001 AND 2004
Review existing contract and/or draft new
contracts with due observance of the Guidelines
2010 and the decision of the Court of First
Instance in the Daimler Chrysler Case
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LET’S MEET AGAIN IN 2022 UPON THE EXPIRY OF
REGULATION 330/210 AND SEE IF THE COMMERCIAL
AGENCY TRADE CONCEPT STILL EXISTS!
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