1965R0019 — EN — 18.06.1999 — 005.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B REGULATIONNo19/65/EECOFTHECOUNCIL
of2March1965
on application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements and concerted
practices
(OJ P 36, 6.3.1965, p. 533)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Council Regulation (EC) No 1215/1999 of 10 June 1999 L 148 1 15.6.1999
Amended by:
►A1Act of Accession of Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern IrelandL 73 14 27.3.1972
►A2Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
►A3Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal L 302 23 15.11.1985
►A4Act of Accession of Austria, Sweden and Finland C241 21 29.8.1994
(adapted by Council Decision 95/1/EC, Euratom, ECSC) L 1 1 1.1.1995
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REGULATIONNo19/65/EECOFTHECOUNCIL
of2March1965
on application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty to certain categories
ofagreementsandconcerted practices
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European EconomicCommunity, and in particular Article 87 thereof;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament(
1);
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee(2);
Whereas Article 85 (1) of the Treaty may in accordance with Article
85 (3) be declared inapplicable to certain categories of agreements,
decisions and concerted practices which fulfil the conditions contained
in Article 85 (3);
Whereas the provisions for implementation of Article 85 (3) must be
adopted by way of regulation pursuant to Article 87;
Whereas in view of the large number of notifications submitted in
pursuance of Regulation No 17(3)it is desirable that in order to facili-
tate the task of the Commission it should be enabled to declare by way
of regulation that the provisions of Article 85 (1) do not apply tocertain categories of agreements and concerted practices;
Whereas it should be laid down under what conditions the Commis-
sion, in close and constant liaison with the competent authorities of
the Member States, may exercise such powers after sufficient experi-
ence has been gained in the light of individual decisions and itbecomes possible to define categories of agreements and concertedpractices in respect of which the conditions of Article 85 (3) may beconsidered as being fulfilled;
Whereas the Commission has indicated by the action it has taken, in
particular by Regulation No 153,(
4) that there can be no easing of the
procedures prescribed by Regulation No 17 in respect of certain typesof agreements and concerted practices that are particularly liable todistort competition in the common market;
Whereas under Article 6 of Regulation No 17 the Commission may
provide that a decision taken pursuant to Article 85 (3) of the Treaty
shall apply with retroactive effect; whereas it is desirable that the
Commission be also empowered to adopt, by regulation, provisions tothe like effect;
Whereas under Article 7 of Regulation No 17 agreements, decisions
and concerted practices may, by decision of the Commission, be
exempted from prohibition in particular if they are modified in such
manner that they statisfy the requirements of Article 85 (3); whereasit is desirable that the Commission be enabled to grant like exemptionby regulation to suchagreements and concerted practices if th ey aremodified in suchmanner as to fall with in a category defined in anexempting regulation;
Whereas, since there can be no exemption if the conditions set out in
Article 85 (3) are not satisfied, the Commission must have power to laydown by decision the conditions that must be satisfied by an agreement1965R0019 — EN — 18.06.1999 — 005.001 — 2
(1) OJ No 81, 27.5.1964, p. 1275/64.
(2) OJ No 197, 30.11.1964, p. 3320/64.
(3) OJ No 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62 (Regulation No 17 as amended by Regula-
tion No 59 - OJ No 58, 10.7.1962, p. 1655/62 - and Regulation No 118/63/
EEC - OJ No 162, 7.11.1963, p. 2696/63.
(4) OJ No 139, 24.12.1962, p. 2918/62.
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or concerted practice which owing to special circumstances has certain
effects incompatible withArticle 85 (3);
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. Without prejudice to the application of Regulation No 17 and in
accordance with Article 81(3) of the Treaty the Commission may by
regulation declare that Article 81(1) shall not apply to:
(a) categories of agreements which are entered into by two or more
undertakings, each operating, for the purposes of the agreement, ata different level of the production or distribution chain, and whichrelate to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell
or resell certain goods or services,
(b) categories of agreements to which only two undertakings are party
and which include restrictions imposed in relation to the acquisitionor use of industrial property rights, in particular of patents, utility
models, designs or trade marks, or to the rights arising out of
contracts for assignment of, or the right to use, a method of manu-facture or knowledge relating to the use or to the application ofindutrial processes.
2. The regulation shall define the categories of agreements to which
it applies and shall specify in particular:
(a) the restrictions or clauses which must not be contained in the
agreements;
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fied.
3. Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply by analogy to categories of
concerted practices.
Article 1a
A regulation pursuant to Article 1 may stipulate the conditions which
may lead to the exclusion from its application of certain parallelnetworks of similar agreements or concerted practices operating onparticular market; when these circumstances are fulfilled the Commis-sion may establish this by means of regulation and fix a period at the
expiry of which the Regulation pursuant to Article 1 would no longer
be applicable in respect of the relevant agreements or concerted prac-tices on that market; such period must not be shorter than six months.
Article 2
1. A regulation pursuant to Article 1 shall be made for a specified
period.
2. It may be repealed or amended where circumstances have
changed with respect to any factor which was basic to its being made;
in such case, a period shall be fixed for modification of the agreements
and concerted practices to which the earlier regulation applies.
Article 3
A regulation pursuant to Article 1 may stipulate that it shall apply with
retroactive effect to agreements and concerted practices to which, at thedate of entry into force of that regulation, a decision issued with retro-active effect in pursuance of Article 6 of Regulation No 17 would haveapplied.1965R0019 — EN — 18.06.1999 — 005.001 — 3
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Article 4
1. A regulation pursuant to Article 1 may stipulate that the prohibi-
tion contained in Article 85 (1) of the Treaty shall not apply, for such
period as shall be fixed by that regulation, to agreements and concerted
practices already in existence on 13 March1962 wh ichdo not satisfythe conditions of Article 85 (3), where:
— within three months from the entry into force of the Regulation,
they are so modified as to satisfy the said conditions in accordance
with the provisions of the regulation; and
— the modifications are brought to the notice of the Commission
within the time limit fixed by the regulation.
A regulation pursuant to Article 1 may stipulate that the prohibition
contained in Article 85(1) of the Treaty shall not apply, for such periodas shall be fixed by that regulation, to agreements and concerted prac-tices already in existence at the date of accession to which Article 85
applies by virtue of accession and which do not satisfy the conditions
of Article 85(3), where:
The provisions of the preceding subparagraph shall apply in the same
way in the case of the accession of the Hellenic Republic, the Kingdomof Spain and of the Portuguese Republic.
The provisions of the preceding subparagraphs shall apply in the same
way in the case of the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden.
2. Paragraph1 sh all apply to agreements and concerted practices
which had to be notified before 1 February 1963, in accordance withArticle 5 of Regulation No 17, only where they have been so notified
before that date.
Paragraph1 sh all not apply to agreements and concerted practices to
which Article 85(1) of the Treaty applies by virtue of accession andwhich must be notified before 1 July 1973, in accordance with Articles5 and 25 of Regulation No 17, unless they have been so notified beforethat date.
Paragraph1 sh all not apply to agreements and concerted practices to
which Article 85 (1) of the Treaty applies by virtue of the accessionof the Hellenic Republic and which must be notified before 1 July1981, in accordance withArticles 5 and 25 of Regulation No 17, unlessthey have been so notified before that date.
Paragraph2 sh all not apply to agreements and concerted practices to
which Article 85 (1) of the Treaty applies by virtue of the accessionof the Kingdom of Spain and of the Portuguese Republic and whichmust be notified before 1 July 1986, in accordance withArticles 5and 25 of Regulation No 17, unless they have been so notified before
that date.
Paragraph1 sh all not apply to agreements and concerted practices to
which Article 85 (1) of the Treaty applies by virtue of the accessionof Austria, Finland and Sweden and which must be notified within sixmonths of accession, in accordance with Articles 5 and 25 of Regula-tion No 17, unless they have been so notified within that period. The
present paragraphsh all not apply to agreements and concerted practices
which at the date of accession already fall under Article 53 (1) of theEEA Agreement.
3. The benefit of the provisions laid down pursuant to paragraph 1
may not be claimed in actions pending at the date of entry into force1965R0019 — EN — 18.06.1999 — 005.001 — 4
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of a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1; neither may it be relied
on as grounds for claims for damages against third parties.
Article 5
Before adopting a regulation, the Commission shall publish a draft
thereof and invite all persons concerned to submit their comments
within such time limit, being not less than one month, as the Commis-
sion shall fix.
Article 6
1. The Commission shall consult the Advisory Committee on
Restrictive Practices and Monopolies:
(a) withregard to a regulation pursuant to Article 1 before publish ing a
draft regulation and before adopting a regulation;
(b) withregard to a regulation pursuant to Article 1a before publish ing
a draft regulation if requested by a Member State, and beforeadopting a regulation.
2. Article 10 (5) and (6) of Regulation No 17, relating to consulta-
tion with the Advisory Committee, shall apply by analogy, it beingunderstood that joint meetings with the Commission shall take place
not earlier than one month after dispatch of the notice convening them.
Article 7
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M11.◄Where the Commission, either on its own initiative or
at the request of a Member State or of natural or legal persons claiminga legitimate interest, finds that in any particular case agreements orconcerted practices to which a regulation adopted pursuant to Article1 of this Regulation applies have nevertheless certain effects whichare incompatible withth e conditions laid down in Article 85 (3) of
the Treaty, it may withdraw the benefit of application of that regulation
and issue a decision in accordance withArticles 6 and 8 of RegulationNo 17, without any notification under Article 4 (1) of Regulation No17 being required.
2. When in any particular case agreements or concerted practices to
which a regulation adopted pursuant to Article 1 applies have certain
effects which are incompatible with the conditions laid down in Article81(3) of the Treaty in the territory of a Member State, or in partthereof, which has all the characteristics of a distinct market, thecompetent authority in that Member State may on its own initiative orat the request of the Commission or of natural or legal persons
claiming a legitimate interest withdraw the benefit of application of
that regulation.
Article 8
The Commission shall, before 1 January 1970, submit to the Council a
proposal for a Regulation for suchamendment of th is Regulation asmay prove necessary in the light of experience.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
in all Member States.1965R0019 — EN — 18.06.1999 — 005.001 — 5
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