Implementation of the rules on competition

PURPOSE : to reform the rules on competition. COMMUNITY MEASURE : Council Regulation 1/2003/EC on the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty. CONTENT : the Council adopted the Council Regulation introducing a new system for the implementation of the competition rules laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty. The Regulation is aimed at enabling more effective application of Community competition law - with a decentralised system allowing for implementation by both the Commission and the competition authorities and courts of the Member State - while preserving the Commission's specific role in its implementation. The Regulation introduces a system of legal exception, based on the principle whereby agreements not contravening the competition rules are automatically considered lawful, replacing the current system based on the principle of prohibition. The Regulation is thus aimed at lightening the Commission's workload, in particular by removing the requirement for individual agreements to be notified, so as to enable the Commission to concentrate on the most important cases. ENTRY INTO FORCE : 24 January 2003. The new rules will apply as from 1 May 2004.�