Commission of the European Communities Eleventh Report on Competition Policy (Published in conjunction with the 'Fifteenth General Report on the Activities of the European Communities in 1981') Commission of the European Communities Eleventh Report on Competition Policy (Published in conjunction with the 'Fifteenth General Report on the Activities of the European Communities in 1981') Brussels • Luxembourg This publication is also available in the following languages: DA ISBN 92-825-2881-2 DE ISBN 92-825-2882-0 GR ISBN 92-825-2883-9 FR ISBN 92-825-2885-5 IT ISBN 92-825-2886-3 NL ISBN 92-825-2887-1 Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1982 ISBN 92-825-2884-7 Catalogue number: CB-33-81-433-EN-C © ECSC - EEC - EAEC, Brussels • Luxembourg, 1982 Printed in Belgium Contents Introduction 11 PART ONE — COMPETITION POLICY TOWARDS ENTERPRISES 17 Chapter I: Main developments in Community policy 19 § 1 — Air and sea transport 19 1—Airtransport 19 2 — Sea transport 21 § 2 — Distribution 23 1 — Exclusive dealing and purchasing 23 2 — Selective distribution 24 §3 — Merger control 26 §4 — Commission procedures in implementing the rules of competition 27 1 — Procedures during investigation 28 2 — Access to the Commission's files 30 3 — Oral Hearings 31 §5 — Application of the competition rules to small and medium-sized enterprises 33 §6 — Application of the competition rules to non-Community undertakings 36 1 — General remarks 36 2 — Application to multinational undertakings 37 § 7 — Application of the competition rules to specific sectors 40 1 — Policy on steel prices 40 2 — Man-made fibres 41 COMP. REP. EC 1981 4 CONTENTS Chapter II: Main cases decided by the Court of Justice 43 § 7 — Practices caught by Article 85 43 Rennet 43 Salonia 44 Zuchner 46 §2 — Procedural matters 47 IBM 47 §3 — Industrial and commercial property 48 Membran K-tel 49 Merck 49 Dansk Supermarked 49 Pfizer 50 Chapter III: Main decisions and measures taken by the Commission 51 §1 —Article 85(1) of the EEC Treaty applied to restrictive practices 52 — Agreements protecting domestic markets 52 • Flat glass 52 • Soda ash 53 — Joint restrictions on parallel imports 54 • ANSEAU—NAVEWA 54 — Joint price-fixing agreement 55 • VBVB—VBBB 55 §2 — Article 85 applied to distribution 57 — Export bans 57 • Moet & Chandon 57 • Hasselblad 57 — Selective distribution systems 59 • AEG-Telefunken 59 §3 — Permitted forms of cooperation 60 — Joint publishing and distribution agreements 60 • LangenscheidtfHachette 60 — Research and development agreement 61 • Sopelem/Vickers 61 — Cooperation agreement between steel undertakings 61 • Pole des independants 61 COMP. REP. EC 1981 CONTENTS 5 §4 — Articles 85 and 86 applied to agreements and practices related to industrial and com- mercial property rights and copyright 62 Patents 62 • Patent pools 62 • Concast/Mannesmann 62 • IGR Stereo Television 63 •Sales of patents and business: territorial restrictions in non-competition clause 64 • Sedame/Precilec 64 Trade marks 65 — Trade mark licensing and ban on competition in the event of transfers of under- takings 65 • Tyler/Linde 65 — Barriers to market entry by competitors 66 • Osram/Airam 66 Copyright 66 — Elimination of export ban relating to copyright 66 • STEMRA 66 §5 — Article 86 applied to abuse of dominant position 67 — Unlawful discount system 67 • Michelin Nederland 67 — Protection of authors and artists 68 • GVL 68 • GEMA 69 §6 — Merger control (Article 66 ECSC and Article 86 EEC) 70 — Merger control in the steel industry 70 • Rogesa 70 • Allied Steel and Wire Ltd 70 • French special steels 71 • Decisions on interlocking directorates 72 — Scrutiny of mergers for compatibility with Article 86 of the EEC Treaty 73 • Amicon Corp./Fortia AB and Wright Scientific Ltd 73 § 7 — Principal Decisions on procedural matters 75 — Incorrect replies to requests for information 75 • CCI 75 • Telos SA 75 o National Panasonic France and Belgium 76 — Rejection of complaints 76 • Demo-Studio Schmidt 77 COMP. REP. EC 1981 6 CONTENTS Chapter IV: Main developments in national competition policies 79 Belgium 80 Denmark 81 Federal Republic of Germany 83 France 86 Greece 89 Ireland 91 Italy 92 Luxembourg 92 Netherlands 93 United Kingdom 94 Chapter V: Commission involvement in work concerning restrictive practices and State aids in international trade 99 § 1 — OECD 99 %2 — UNCTAD 100 §3 — Cooperation between the Commission and the antitrust authorities of non- member countries 102 Chapter VI: Competition policy and the role of socio-economic and political interest groups 103 § 1 — European Parliament 104 §2 — Economic and Social Committee 105 §3 — Other contacts 106 PART TWO — COMPETITION POLICY AND GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE TO ENTER- PRISES 109 Chapter I: State aids 111 §1 General 111 § 2 — Aid schemes for specific industries 115 Iron and steel (Application of the ECSC and EEC Treaties) 116 Major aid schemes 118 — Schemes approved by the Commission 118 • Denmark 118 • United Kingdom 119 COMP. REP. EC 1981 CONTENTS 7 — Schemes subject to procedure or at first stage of examination 120 • Belgium 120 • Federal Republic of Germany 122 • France 124 • Italy 125 • Luxembourg 126 — Individual investment projects 127 — Action on infringements of procedural requirements 128 Shipbuilding ea129 — Fifth Council Directive 129 — National aid schemes 129 • Italy 129 • France 130 • Denmark 130 • United Kingdom 130 Individual case of application 131 — United Kingdom 131 Ship repairing 132 Textiles and clothing 132 — Commission policy on aid to the textile and clothing industry 132 Synthetic fibres 133 National schemes 134 — Netherlands 134 — Belgium 134 — Greece 135 Car industry 136 — United Kingdom ' 136 Paper industry 137 — Belgium 137 — Netherlands 137 Aids to the energy sector 137 — Aids to the coal industry 137 • Belgium 139 Aid to a petroleum refinery 139 • Federal Republic of Germany 139 Loans for energy saving and related objectives 139 COMP. REP. EC 1981 8 CONTENTS Aid for the construction of coal-fired thermal heating stations and extension of the distribution network for area heating 140 s United Kingdom 140 Aid for the conversion of oil-fired boilers to use coal 140 Significant cases of application of general aid schemes 140 §3 — Regional aid schemes 141 General 141 Specific statements on certain national regional aid schemes 142 — Federal Republic of Germany 142 — Belgium 143 — Denmark 145 — France 146 — Ireland 147 — Italy 148 — Netherlands 150 — United Kingdom 151 §4 —Aid schemes other than regional or industry ones 151 — Restructuring of Italian industry 151 — Aid to small and medium-sized firms 152 «Netherlands 152 — Premiums for innovation 152 — Aid for export credits 153 Adjustment of State monopolies of a commercial character 154 Public undertakings 155 PART THREE — THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONCENTRATION AND COMPETITION IN THE COMMUNITY 157 Introduction 159 § 1 — National and international takeovers and mergers, share purchases and joint ventures in the Community from 1977 to 1980 159 — Trend in the number of operations and in the number of firms involved 159 — Possible explanations of the trend in the number of operations 161 COMP. REP. EC 1981 CONTENTS 9 — International operations by Member State 162 — Share of non-Community firms in international operations in Member States 163 — Industry breakdown of national and international operations in the Community 165 § 2 — Market structures 165 — The markets investigated 165 — Geographical delimitation of markets 166 — Method used in the analysis 166 — The development of market power on the product markets investigated between 1970 and 1979 168 § 3 — Price structures 170 — Some factors determining international price differences 170 — International price differences in 1980: certain selected products 171 — Some comparisons of prices between 1976 and 1980 171 — The purchasing strength of the major distributors 175 § 4 — Conclusions 175 Annex 179 List of individual Decisions of the Commission and Rulings of the Court of Justice made in 1981 concerning the application of Articles 85 and 86 of the EEC Treaty and of Articles 65 and 66 of the ECSC Treaty 181 Final negative Decisions adopted by the Commission under Article 93(2) of the EEC Treaty 184 Cases in which the Commission raised no objection 186 Cases in which the procedure under Article 93(2) of the EEC Treaty or under Article 8(3) of Decision 2320/81/ECSC was initiated 189 Cases in which the procedure under Article 93(2) of the EEC Treaty or under Article 8(3) of Decision 2320/81/ECSC was terminated 191 List of study reports published in the 'Evolution of concentration and competition series' in 1981, 'Working papers' collection 193 COMP. REP. EC 1981 Introduction The continuing economic difficulties and their industrial and social consequences represent, now more than ever before, a challenge to any competition policy. As is clear from the Treaties, the Community is essentially based on a market economy in which fair, undistorted competition is supposed to ensure that available resour- ces are allocated to the most productive sectors, to stimulate firms to make use of their know-how and skills and to encourage them to invent, develop and exploit efficiently new techniques and new products. The last two functions are particu- larly important in a time of crisis since they enable firms to recover, retain and improve their competitiveness. The Commission must therefore ensure that com- petition performs its proper role. However,