NoL198/6 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 23.7.76
II
(Actswhosepublicationisnotobligatory)
COMMISSION
COMMISSION DECISION
of20May1976
authorizingajointbuyingagreementinrespectoffinishedrolledsteelproducts
betweenthesteeldistributionundertakingsC.Walker&SonsLtd,J.ChampionSA
andNVA.Lommaert
(OnlytheDutch,EnglishandFrenchtextsareauthentic)
(76/602/ECSC)
Walkerhasthepowertoexercisecontrolwithinthe
meaningofDecision24/54overthefollowingsteel
stockholders :THECOMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN
COMMUNITIES ,
HavingregardtotheTreatyestablishingtheEuropean
CoalandSteelCommunity,andinparticular
Article65thereof,
Havingregardtotheapplicationfromthefirms
concerneddated21November1974,
Whereas:Firm Locality
C.Walker&Sons(Ireland)LtdUnitedKingdom
PadleyStainlessSteelsLtdUnitedKingdom
MerseySteelsLtd UnitedKingdom
MartinHallLtd UnitedKingdom
MartinHallSteelTubesLtdUnitedKingdom
MartinHall(London)LtdUnitedKingdom
Harrowmills Ltd UnitedKingdom
SloughTubesLtd UnitedKingdom
DublinSteelStockholders LtdIreland
ShamrockSteelServicesLtdIrelandI
On21November1974threesteeldistributionunder­
takingswithinthemeaningofArticle80ofthe
Treaty:
C.Walker&SonsLtd,Blackburn,UnitedKingdom
(Walker);EtsMetallurgiques J.ChampionSA,
Nanterre,France(Champion);andNVAlgemene
Handelsmaatschappij A.Lommaert,Schoten,Belgium
(Lommaert);
appliedtotheCommissionoftheEuropeanCommuni­
tiesforauthorizationunderArticle65(2)ofthe
Treatyofajointsteelbuyingarrangementbetween
them.
WalkerisaUnitedKingdomsteelstockholderwith
asharecapitalof£350000,heldentirelybymembers
oftheWalkerfamily.TheseundertakingsformtheWalkerGroup,whose
consolidatedturnoverin1974totalled£41418627.
ChampionisaFrenchlimitedliabilitycompanywith
acapitalofFF12million;itisinbusinessasa
stockholderforallsteelproducts;98%ofitscapital
isheldbymembersoftheChampionfamily,andits
1974turnovertotalledFF311058000.

23.7.76 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoL198/7
Lommaert,aBelgiumlimitedliabilitycompanyin
businessasasteelstockholder,hasacapitalofBfrs
35million,allheldbymembersoftheLommaert
family.Eachofthefirmsinvolvedwillremainfreetodeter­
mine:
—salesprices,
Lommaerthasthepowertoexercisedirectorindirect
controloverthefollowingsteelstockholders :—outlets,
—productrange,
—customerselection,
—qualityofafter-salesservice,
—technicaldevelopments ,
—businessexpansion,
—investmentprogrammes .Firm Locality
A.LommaertNVAlgemene
Handelsmaatschappij ,LanakenBelgium
AnciensEtablissements LeducSA,
Liège Belgium
BVIjzerhandelv/hA.Lommaert,
Born Netherlands
BVIjzerhandelv/hA.Lommaert,
TheHague Netherlands
H.HeutappelBV,Maastricht Netherlands
Eisen-undStahlgroßhandel
Dr.Ing.A.SchneiderGmbH,FederalRepublicHeidelberg ofGermany
Eisen-undStahlgroßhandel
Dr.Ing.A.SchneiderGmbH,FederalRepublic
Düsseldorf ofGermanyTheagreementwasconcludedforfiveyearsfrom
1January1975andmayberenewedifallthree
partiessoagree.
II
TheseundertakingsformtheLommaertGroup,whose
consolidated turnoverin1974totalledBfrs
2978313000.Theagreement"restrictsthenormalplayofcompeti­
tionsincethejointbuyingoffinishedandendrolled
steelproductstobetakenintostockwillenablethe
firmsinvolvedtoobtainidenticalpricesandtermsof
delivery,morefavourablethanthosewhichthey
wouldhaveobtainedindividually .
On1January1975theseundertakingsenteredinto
acooperationagreement,themainpointsbeing:
—thepartieswillpooltheirbuyingoffinishedand
endrolledsteelproductsoncethenecessary
facilitieshavebeensetup;
—theywillregularlyexchangecommercial,technical,
financialandadministrative information,notably:Theagreementalsodistortsthenormalplayof
competitionsincethefirmsinvolvedwillregularly
beexchangingcommercial,technical,financialand
administrative information,notablymarketresearch,
statisticsonandanalysesofcurrenteconomictrends,
managementinformationandknowhow,technical
knowhowandresearchanddevelopmentfindings.
—marketresearch,
—statisticsonandanalysesofcurrenteconomic
trends,Althoughtheselast-mentioned cooperationmeasures
takenindividuallywouldnotbeanticompetitive for
purposesofthe'Noticeonagreements,decisions
andconcertedpracticesconcerningcooperation
betweenundertakings'(*)andwouldthereforenotbe
caughtbyArticle65(1),theircumulativeeffectwill—managementinformationandknowhow,
—technicalknowhow,andresearchanddevel­
opmentfindings;
—theywillencourageasfaraspossiblestaff
exchangesandjointadvertising;(*)OJNoC75,29.7.1968,p.3;Corrigendum inOJ
NoC84,28.8.1968,p.14.

NoL198/8 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 23.7.76
betomakethefirmsinvolvedcooperateonabroader
frontandthencoordinatetheiractivitiesbeyondjoint
buying,sothattheyarelikelytoaligntheirmarket
conductassuppliers.Jointbuyingwillenablethesefirms:
—toplacejointordersforsteelproductstobetaken
intostock,sothattheycanavoidsurchargeson
smallordersandqualifyforquantitydiscounts;
Thisagreement,whosepurposeistogivetheparties
asubstantiallystrongermarketpositionvis-a-vistheir
suppliersandasubstantiallybettercompetitive
positionthantheywouldhaveontheirownin
conditionsofnormalcompetition,isthereforecaught
bytheprohibitioninArticle65(1)oftheTreaty.—tomakeasubstantialimprovement intheir
suppliesandextendtheirproductrangebygiving
themaccesstoeachother'straditionalsuppliers;
—tobesureofcontinuousandfastersuppliesof
productsfromotherCommunitycountries;
III —torationalizetheirbuyingandthusreducecosts
soastostepuptheirefficiencyandcompeti­
tivenessonabroadermarket.
Specialization agreementsorjointbuyingorjoint
sellingagreementsinrespectofparticularproducts
maybeauthorizediftheCommissionfindsthatthey
satisfythetestsofArticle65(2).JointbuyingbyWalker,ChampionandLommaert
willthusmakeforasubstantialimprovementinthe
distributionofsteelproducts.
Theseresultscouldnotbeobtainedonthesame
scaleifeachofthefirmsindividuallyboughtthe
steelitneeded.Theagreementsimposenorestrictions
asregardspricing,selectionofcustomersoroutlets,
businessexpansionorinvestmentprogrammes ,where,
eachfirmremainscompletelyfree.Itcantherefore
beconcludedthattheagreementisnotmorerestric­
tivethanitspurposerequires.Theagreementinquestionmaybeauthorizedunder
Article65(2)ifitmakesforasubstantialimprove­
mentintheproductionordistributionoftherelevant
products,isessentialinordertoachievetheseresults
andisnotmorerestrictivethanisnecessaryforthat
purpose.Theagreementmustnotbesuchastogive
theundertakingsconcernedthepowertodetermine
theprices,ortocontrolorrestricttheproductionor
marketing,ofasubstantialpartoftheproductsin
questionwithinthecommonmarket,ortoshield
themagainsteffectivecompetitionfromotherunder­
takingswithinthecommonmarket.
TheagreementthussatisfiesthetestsofArticle65(2),
(a)and(b).
IV
V
Walker,ChampionandLommaertareallsteel
distributorsandgenerallysupplysmallandmedium
firmswithin80or100kilometresoftheirdepots;
andthesefirmsfinditadvantageoustobeinclose
contactwiththeirsuppliers.Intheassessmentofthemarketsharesheldbythe
firmsconcerned,accountshouldbetakenofthe
peculiarfeaturesofthestockholdermarket,where
therearegeographiclimitsdependingonthelocation
ofdepots.Thefirmsconcernedhavetheirregistered
officesandmaindepotsinthreeseparateCommunity
countries.Thereisthereforenopointinseekinga
relevantmarketcoveringthemall;eachshouldbe
consideredinrelationtothemarketcoveredfromits
depots.Thegeographicallocationofthedepotsoftheparties
totheagreementandtheirsubsidiarieswillenable
themtosupplyusersintheBeneluxcountries,Ireland,
theUnitedKingdom,thenorthernhalfofFranceand
partofGermany.

OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 23.7.76 NoL198/9
HASADOPTEDTHISDECISION :
Article1Walker'sshareoftheUnitedKingdomstockholder
marketmaybeestimatedat5%in1974,when
Championheldapproximately 4%oftheFrench
marketandLommaert6%ofthecombinedBelgian
andDutchmarkets.Thesearethusmedium-sized
firms.Eachofthemonitsownmarkethastoface
competitionnotonlyfromlargenumbersoflocalor
regionalironandsteeldealersbutalsofromdealers
underthecontrolofthemanufacturing firms,someof
themholdingmarketsharesthreeorfourtimesas
large.
Theagreementatissueisaccordinglynotliableto
givetheundertakingsconcernedthepowertodeter­
minetheprices,ortocontrolorrestrictthepro­
ductionormarketingofasubstantialpartofthe
steelproductssoldinthecommonmarket,orto
shieldthemagainsteffectivecompetitionfromother
undertakingswithinthe.commonmarket.Itthus
satisfiesthetestsofArticle65(2)(c)oftheTreaty.Thejointbuyingagreementinrespectofsteel
productstobetakenintostockenteredintoon
1January1975betweenthefollowingsteeldistri­
butionundertakings :
C.WalkerandSonsLtd,Blackburn,UnitedKingdom;
EtsMetallurgiques J.ChampionSA,Nanterre,France;
andNVAlgemeneHandelsmaatschappij A.Lommaert,
Schoten,Belgium;isherebyauthorized.
Article2
Thesaidundertakingsshallwithoutdelayinformthe
Commissionofanychangeoradditiontoorextension
oftheagreement,andeffectshallnotbegivento
anysuchchange,additionorextensionuntilthe
Commission hasconfirmedthatitisconsistentwith
theauthorization givenbythisDecisionorhas
authorizeditunderArticle65(2).VI
Article3
ThisDecisionisaddressedtotheundertakingsnamed
inArticle1.TheCommissionmustensurethatanyarrangements
madebythefirmsinvolvedunder"thejointbuying
agreementareconsistentwiththeauthorizationgiven
bythisDecisionandwiththeTreaty.
Walker,ChampionandLommaertmustthereforebe
requiredtoinformtheCommissionwithoutdelay
ofanychangeoradditiontoorextensionofthe
agreement,andeffectmustnotbegiventoanysuch
change,additionorextensionuntiltheCommission
hasdeclareditadmissibleorhasauthorizeditunder
Article65(2)oftheTreaty.
TheagreementwhichtheCommission isaskedto
authorizesatisfiestherequirementsofArticle65(2)
andisconsistentwiththeotherprovisionsofthe
Treaty,DoneatBrussels,20May1976.
FortheCommission
A.BORSCHETTE
MemberoftheCommission