Clifford Chance

EU Vertical Agreements

23 June 2023

Richard Blewett, Partner, and Maarten Kennis, Lawyer, consider the application of EU competition law to vertical agreements. Vertical agreements are the most frequently encountered commercial agreement. They are entered into between two or more firms operating at different levels of the market, for example, between a manufacturer and a distributor.

Their note provides an essential guide to the Commission’s vertical restraints policy, in particular, the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation ((EU) 2022/720) (VBER)) and its accompanying guidelines (Vertical Restraints Guidelines).

The note was originally published on Practical Law and is reproduced with the permission of the publishers.

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