Competition law and commercial agreements

This subtopic contains guidance on EU level rules relating to competition law and commercial agreements.

The European Commission is wary of any arrangements which might restrict competition. Several types of commercial agreements may raise competition law concerns, such as:

•
horizontal agreements
•
vertical agreements

Analysing horizontal agreements under Article 101 TFEU

Horizontal agreements may involve arrangements between competitors. A key proposition underpinning EU competition law is that competing companies should act independently on markets. Horizontal cooperation can be beneficial for consumers and markets but involving competitors will be of particular concern from an EU competition law perspective where there is coordination on certain sensitive parameters (eg price and/or output) or where the cooperation enables collaborating parties with already strong market positions to gain, maintain or increase market power.

Practice Note: Analysing horizontal cooperation agreements under EU competition law considers the key EU competition rules to be borne in mind when drafting or reviewing a horizontal agreement between actual or potential competitors. The Practice Note sets out a process for assessing whether a horizontal agreement might be anti-competitive and the possibilities for exemption

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