Tag: car block exemption

The Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee has backed a proposal that seeks to end carmakers' exclusive right to sell visible spare parts such as bumpers, bonnets and headlights in a move aimed at bringing down prices in the repair market.

A ten-year roadmap to boost the competitiveness of the European car industry is now open to broad stakeholder input. It focuses on cutting down legislation, improving road safety and reducing pollution.

Four months into the transition period of the new regulation, industry voices doubt that the revised rules will have the effects intended by the Commission. They warn that if prices converge, the resulting level will likely be above the current European average.

The new competition rules on motor car sales and servicing enter into force on 1 October 2002.

The European Parliament's economic committee wants to give car dealers more time to adapt to the Commission's new car distribution proposal. In a report on the draft Commission regulation, German MEP Christophe Konrad demands delaying the changes to the current regime until October 2004.

The upcoming Commission proposal to revise the conditions for the block exemption of car distribution systems, is likely to get a stormy ride. The proposal, due in early February, has drawn heavy criticism from car manufacturers, and this week the German government voiced its own concerns to the Commission

The Commission presented on 11 December its long-awaited Green Paper on reform of the merger regulation. The Green Paper starts a broad consultation with the different stakeholders in order to prepare concrete legislative proposals in 2002.

Should the EU's current car distribution system be abolished or extended? This question was at the centre of a public hearing in the European Parliament on Tuesday 11 September.

A new report published by the Commission into car prices in the EU finds that they remain by far the highest in the UK. Mario Monti, Competition Commissioner, emphasised the importance of continuing to monitor car price differentials in the run-up to the introduction of a new legal framework for EU car sales.

Commission report on car prices confirms that new car price differentials remain high across the EU

The European Commission evaluation report on the motor industry block exemption has been both praised and criticised.