by Becket McGrath, Sarah Long and Aakash Kumbhat
On 8 September 2020, the European Commission (‘the Commission’) published the results of its evaluation of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (‘VBER’) and associated guidelines in the form of a Staff Working Document.
The 232 page document summarises evidence received by the Commission from businesses, their advisers, consumer bodies and national competition authorities (‘NCAs’) in response to its consultation on the operation of the current vertical agreements regime. It also takes account of the findings of the Commission’s E-commerce sector inquiry, which ran from 2015 to 2017, and a detailed ‘evaluation support study’ that was conducted by external consultants. Although the document is primarily concerned with pulling together the wide-ranging views received through this process, which has been running since 2018, it does contain some broad conclusions and an indication of its priorities for updating the verticals regime.
To read the full note, click here.