Commission Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict
competition under Article 81(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community (de
minimis) (1)
(2001/C 368/07)
(Text with EEA relevance)
I
1. Article 81(1) prohibits agreements between undertakings
which may affect
trade between Member States and
which have as their object or effect
the prevention,
restriction or distortion of
competition within
the
common market. The Court of Justice of the European
Communities has clarified that
this provision is not
applicable where the impact of the agreement on intra-
Community trade or on competition is not appreciable.
2. In this notice the Commission quantifies, with the help of
market share thresholds, what
is not an appreciable
restriction of competition under Article 81 of the EC
Treaty. This negative definition of appreciability does not
imply that agreements between undertakings which exceed
the thresholds set out in this notice appreciably restrict
competition. Such agreements may still have only a
negligible effect on competition and may therefore not
be prohibited by Article 81(1) (2).
3. Agreements may in addition not fall under Article 81(1)
because they are not capable of appreciably affecting trade
between Member States. This notice does not deal with this
issue. It does not quantify what does not constitute an
appreciable effect on trade. It is however acknowledged
that agreements between small and medium-sized under-
takings, as defined in the Annex to Commission Recom-
mendation 96/280/EC (3), are rarely capable of appreciably
affecting
trade between Member States.
Small
and
medium-sized undertakings are currently defined in that
recommendation as undertakings which have fewer than
250 employees and have either an annual turnover not
exceeding EUR 40 million or an annual balance-sheet
total not exceeding EUR 27 million.
4. In cases covered by this notice the Commission will not
institute proceedings either upon application or on its own
initiative. Where undertakings a