Survey on Vertical Agreements in 2017 - Is the Rigid Application of Competition Law to Distribution Agreements Going to Kill the Buyer-Reseller Model?

摘要

Distribution agreements constitute one of the principal areas of application of competition law. As vertical agreements between businesses, they may be subject to the law on restrictive agreements where their object or effect is to restrict competition or the rules on abuse of dominant position - if the supplier is in such a position and its conduct is abusive. The competition authorities can even sanction the same conduct under both the law on restrictive agreements and abuse of dominant position. Exceptionally, a distribution agreement can also fall within the scope of merger control.