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EU: Commission revises antitrust ‘safe harbor’ rule

By  |  June 25, 2014

The European Commission announced Wednesday it has updated and revised its so-called “safe harbor” rules that set the threshold for what the Commission considers an appreciable restriction of competition when companies make minor agreements between each other.

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    The Commission issued its De Minimis Notice to announce that companies with market shares of less than 10 percent can make agreements with competitors, and companies with less than 15 percent can make agreements with non-competitors, on the grounds that these deals do not threaten significant harm to market competition.

    The authority said the thresholds that create a safe harbor for those companies “allows the Commission to concentrate its resources on agreements with a higher risk of distorting competition in the Single Market.” The notice, however, clarifies that agreements intended to distort competition are not considered “minor” and do not quality for the safe harbor immunity.

    Full content: Europa

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