Press Release: Commission adopts comprehensive reform of competition rules for car sales and servicing

The European Commission adopted a comprehensive reform of the competition rules for the motor vehicle sector on 17 July 2002. The new regulation aims to rectify the competition problems identified in the Commission's 2000 evaluation report on the current competition regime and is designed to increase competition and bring benefits to European consumers for both vehicle sales and servicing. The regulation will allow greater use of new distribution techniques such as Internet sales. It will lead to more competition between dealers, make cross-border purchases of new vehicles significantly easier and lead to greater price competition. The new regulation comes into force on 1 October 2002, with a one-year transition period allowing for the adaptation of existing contracts. A specific longer transition period until 30 September 2005 applies to the phasing-out of location clauses.

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/02/174&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/02/174&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/02/347&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/02/347&format=HTML&rapid=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/car_sector/ http://ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/car_sector/

ESO: In Focus: European Commission proposes changes to block exemption in the car sector, February 2002 http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-commission-proposes-changes-to-block-exemption-in-the-car-sector-february-2002/

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