Competition policy: vertical restraints. Green Paper

The Committee welcomes the green paper because it initiates a revision process in an area of great sensitivity for competition policy, company competitiveness and single market integration. The Committee hopes that solutions will be devised for SMEs which facilitate their re-inclusion within the scope of the block exemption regulations, thereby helping them to measure up to market globalization. The current block exemption regulations, which are certainly too rigid and often difficult to interpret, should be revised and adjusted in a flexible way. The Committee would indicate the need for clarification of and coordination between the Commission's Notice on Agreements of Minor Importance ("de minimis", COM(96) 722 final) and the options set out in the green paper, especially Option IV which provides for rebuttable presumption of compatibility with Article 85(1) up to the 20% market share threshold. �