Press Release: Antitrust: Commission launches public consultation on review of competition rules for motor vehicle sector

The European Commission is inviting comments on its proposal for a revised Block Exemption Regulation and Guidelines on motor vehicle sales and repair agreements. Block exemptions relieve companies from the need to analyse individually whether certain categories of agreements comply with EU rules on restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union - TFEU). The current Regulation (1400/2002) is due to expire in May 2010. The draft texts are in line with the Communication of 22 July 2009 on the review of the competition regime for the motor vehicle sector. In particular, following stakeholders' comments, the Commission considers that a specific block exemption is no longer warranted for the sale of new cars and commercial vehicles. However, the Commission proposes to adopt a new block exemption for repair and maintenance services, where competition appears to be more limited. It also proposes to adopt guidelines dealing with specific issues for both motor vehicle sales and repair. Interested parties are invited to submit comments by 10 February 2010.