Follow-up communication to EC Green Paper on vertical restraints

ICC is the world business organization, grouping thousands of member companies and associations from over 130 countries, many of whom operate distribution systems in Europe.
ICC welcomes the European Commission’s "Communication on the application of the Community competition rules to vertical restraints", the follow-up document to the Green Paper on Vertical Restraints, and applauds the Commission’s initiative to reform its policy on vertical restraints.
In particular, ICC supports the adoption of a single, broad-based block exemption covering all vertical restraints.
ICC believes, however, that the proper balance between the more economic approach towards vertical restraints proposed by the Commission and legal certainty for companies, has yet to be achieved. ICC has particular concerns that the combination of market share criteria and the exclusion of several commercially sensible arrangements from the benefits of the block exemption (black clauses) unnecessarily aggravates legal uncertainty for companies operating in Europe.