European regulation

Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty (now Art. 101 and 102 TFEU) and Directive 4064/89 are at the heart of European competition law:

• The text of Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty, now Art. 101 and 102 TFEU (also Articles 83 up to and including 86)
• Regulation 139/2004 (EC Merger Regulation)    

European Block Exemptions
In addition to the provisions of the EC Treaty, the European block exemptions are also important. The European Commission has the power to grant block exemptions, as does the Dutch government. A block exemption has the purpose of exempting a certain group of schemes which infringe the prohibition on cartels (section 6 of the Competition Act and Article 81 of the EC Treaty ((now Art. 101 TFEU)). Notification does not have to be given of schemes which meet the criteria of the block exemption in order to obtain an exemption, since the exemption is granted by law.

The Netherlands has a number of block exemptions. As is confirmed in sections 12 and 13 of the Competition Act, the European block exemptions also apply in the Netherlands. At present, the following European block exemptions apply:

• Vertical agreements (Directive (EU) 330/2010) (Guidelines EU 130/2010) 
• Motor Vehicle Sector  (Directive (EU) 461/2010)
• Licensing Agreements in Relation to Technology Transfer (Directive (EEC) 240/1996)
• Horizontal Cooperation Agreements (Directives (EEC) 2658/2000 and (EEC) 2659/2000)
• Insurance Sector (Directive (EC) 358/2003)
• Air Transport Services (Directive (EC) 411/2004)
• Liner Shipping Companies (Directive (EEC) 823/2000)