European Commission Seeks Comments on Draft Revised Distribution Rules

The European Commission, on July 9, 2021, published its long-anticipated proposed update of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and the corresponding draft Vertical Restraints Guidelines for public consultation and comment by September 17, 2021.

This is an important milestone in the EC’s VBER evaluation process that commenced in October 2018 and is set to conclude by May 31, 2022, when the current VBER expires.  While the EC may still make adjustments to the existing drafts to reflect public comments, we anticipate most of the proposed changes will be incorporated in the final regulation and guidelines.

The draft updated VBER and Vertical Guidelines make a number of important adjustments to the existing rules, in part to reflect the significant growth in online sales by manufacturers directly and through online intermediation services.  This alert memorandum provides an overview of the proposed changes and their potential impact.

Please click here to read the full alert memorandum.