Vertikala avtal och gruppundantag inom den Europeiska motorfordonssektorn

Sammanfattning: Since 1985 competition law in the european automobile industry has been covered by specific block exemptions regulation who regulate the special conditions who apply especially in the car industry. These block exemptions has been continuously improved and updated and the last, and current one, is from 2010. The block exemptions assume from article 101 in treaty of the function of the European Union about distortion of competition measurements and how these are limited from the commission. Regulations 461/2010 and 330/2010 govern the vertical agreements conducted in the automobile industry, especially those between manufacturer and dealer. The purpose of this block exemption is to strengthen and promote the competition on the internal market with focus on the right of the consumer. These regulations has now been active for seven years and controls the market of sales and service for motor vehicles within the EU. But the question is whether these regulation has the effect that the commission strive. Has these regulation promoted competition and parallelism trade in the internal market or do manufacturers still control sales and service on the aftermarket. Regulation 461/2010 exists as a complement to the general block exemption 330/2010 that regulates vertical agreements in general on EU's internal market. However are the differences between these regulations limited which begs the question: Do the automobile industry actually need a separate block exemption or would the reg. 330/2010 cater the automobile industry's need for regulating vertical agreements.