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COM (85) 258 
 
 
 
Vol. 1985/0 116 
  
 
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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
C0MC85) 258 final
Brussels, 29 May 1985
COMMISSION COMMUNICATION TO THE COUNCIL
on the creation of a Community framework system  
for book prices
COMC85) 258 finalGénétal

COM(85)258
COMMISSION  
OF THE
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
Commission Communication to the Council  
on the creation of a Community framework system  
for book prices
1. Measures to regulate book prices in the interests of culture in general  
have been called for by various political bodies.
Thus on 13 February 1981 the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on
the fixing of book prices. Among other things Parliament there
requested the Commission "to put forward the necessary proposals on book
prices... in order to guarantee a policy on books in the Community which
is worthy of the unique role of this educational and cultural
instrument". And according to Recommendation 930 of the Paliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe, "prescribing fixed prices for books
offers the best guarantee for the wide availability of books and the
2largest possible range of places of sale".
Council meetings of ministers reponsible for cultural affairs have  
several times discussed policy on books. One important aspect of such a  
policy is obviously the question of pricing. At their meeting on  
22 November 1984, the ministers "expressed their interest in ... the  
possibility of introducing a pricing system based, among other things,  
on the possibility of establishing a single price for books".
!0J No C 50, 9.3.1981, p. 103.
^See the report on book pricing by Mr Voogd, Parliamentary Assembly ■  
Council of Europe, Doc. 4786, thirty third ordinary session, 1.10.1931.

The judgment delivered by the Court of Justice on 10 January 1985 in  
Case 229/83 Leclerc v Au Blé Vert and Others, where it had to consider  
the French book pricing system, has brought the question to the  
forefront of discussion once again.
The Commission's Programme for 1985 includes the preparation of a  
framework for rules on book prices in the Community.
Books raise special problems because of their dual nature. Books are at  
the same time
- an industrial product, and like other industrial products the subject  
of economic activity; and
- a cultural product: as a means of expression and a medium of literary
creation, of thought and of research, books form part of Europe's  
cultural heritage, and it is important for European cultural  
development and the European cultural identity that the production and  
distribution of books should be promoted in order to encourage the  
exchange of ideas and of talent.
The difficulties inherent in the special structures of the book trade  
should be approached in the light of the various interests involved:
- The interests of authors: Authors should be ensured a reasonable
chance of having their works published. People who wish to live by  
their writing should be able to hope that they will make a decent  
living from their creative activity. To meet these demands a viable  
system of book publishing and distribution must clearly be maintained.
- The interests of publishers: One of the requirements for cultural
vitality is bound up with the number and range of works which are  
published. But many books sell slowly or with difficulty,
particularly works of literary creation, those concerned with human  
sciences, or science and technology. Success here is more uncertain  
than in other fields.

- 3 -
The publisher ought to be able to offset the risk he takes in  
publishing works whose prospects are unpredictable by making an  
adequate profit on the sale of highly successful books.
- The interests of booksellers: The distribution of books depends in
all Community countries on the existence of a network of good  
bookshops that are alone capable of offering the diversity and wealth  
of published works to the public, by maintaining a permanent stock of  
books and by advising customers and tracing particular works.  
Affording the reader easy access to the range of published works also  
enables him to play his part in deciding the success of particular  
works, rather than leaving that function to a small group of arbiters.  
But book retailing has its constraints^ it requires a measure of  
security of income. It could be endangered by the aggressive  
commercial practices of certain distributors who follow a selective  
policy as regards the type of works or the particular titles which  
they offer for sate.
- The interests of the public: These interests are closely bound up
with the existence of a good distribution network: the potential
reader needs to be able to find all the books he wants easily and at  
reasonable prices.

c
- 4 -
These problems of the book trade are at present regulated solely at  
national level. A table summarizing the schemes applied in the  
different Member States is attached. The following conclusions can be
drawn:
There is very general recognition of the special nature of books  
and of the economic and cultural policy objectives outlined above.  
In most Member States there are special rules on book pricing.
- But the form taken by these rules, where they exist, varies greatly  
from one Member State to another.
In one Member State, France, the rules are laid down in legislation. In  
the others they are established by private agreements between the  
publishers and the other parties concerned.
In France the rules are binding on publishers, who are required to set a  
retail selling price to be charged for all the books they publish. In  
the other cases the rules are optional. Publishers are free to set a  
compulsory price or not, as they wish.
It has to be recognized that the fact that the book trade is organized  
on a purely national basis in the Community has serious drawbacks.
The disparity of schemes applied by the different Member States may be  
responsible for instances of failure to comply with the pricing rules  
applied in each of them, given the possibility of importation and  
re-importation.
Member States or firms who wish to remedy these difficulties by  
individually taking measures affecting import and export business will  
hardly be able to do so without infringing their obligations under the  
Treaty, whether under the rules on free movement of goods or the rules

- 5 -
of competition. This is quite clear from the findings of the Court of  
Justice in its two judgments on book prices:
The Commission had refused to grant an exemption under Article 85(3) of  
the Treaty in respect of an agreement between the Belgian VBVB  
(Association for the Promotion of Flemish Books) and the Dutch VBBB  
(Association for the Promotion of the Interests of the Book Trade); the  
agreement governed trade in Dutch language books between the Netherlands  
and Belgium,, and obliged booksellers in one country to apply the prices  
set by publishers in the other. In its judgment in Joined Cases 43 and  
63/82 VBVB and VBBB v Commission, not yet reported, the Court upheld the  
position the Commission had taken .

-  6 -
In Leclerc v Au Blé Vert/ not yet reported, the Court held that rules on  
imported or re-imported books of the kind laid down by the French Act No  
81-766 of 10 August 1981 were contrary to Article 30 of the Treaty.
4. The Community must now take up a position on the overall problem of book  
prices. The alternatives are as follows:
(a) The Community could decide to lay down common rules; two types of  
rule are conceivable.
- The Community takes the view that there should be complete  
freedom to determine prices. In that case the common rules
would require Member States to abolish the existing pricing  
systems, or have them abolished, not only with respect to
trade in books between Member States but also with respect
to the sale on their home markets of books published  
domestically.
- The Community accepts the objectives pursued by the national
pricing schemes. The common rules would then be aimed at  
widening the existing arrangements to cover the whole Community,  
either by substituting a Community scheme for the existing
national schemes, or by simply laying down a framework for the  
national schemes by means of a Community Directive.

- 7 -
(b) Or else nothing is done to introduce pricing rules for books at  
Community level.
The Commission would, none the less, have to act promptly in  
condemning the cross-border aspects of existing national systems  
where they infringe Articles 30 et seq.  of the Treaty on the free  
movement of goods or Articles 85 et seq.  on competition, as  
relevant. Purely domestic aspects, although difficult to
dissociate from cross-border aspects, would fall outside the scope  
of the above provisions insofar as they do not affect trade between  
Member States.
Before definitively coming down in favour of a Community framework  
system for book prices, the Commission considers that the different  
aspects of the book market throughout the community should be  
studied in greater depth so that the nature and extent of all the  
interests to be weighed against each other may be assessed as fully  
and as accurately as possible. In particular, detailed
consultations should be conducted to this end with all the  
professional and other circles involved. None the less, such  
consultations and studies will be of no avail unless one has an  
idea of the forms which a Community framework system might take.
5. In implementing such a framework system, a number of requirements would  
have to be met:
(a) Some are political in nature: it is important that the system advocated
should cause as little upheaval as possible as regards the national

-  8 -
systems already in force in Member States.
(b) The others are of a legal nature: the fact tha^ it is established at
Community level does not mean that a Community framework for book prices  
need not take account of the Treaty rules on the tree movement of goods  
(cases of importation and re-importation dealt with by the Court) and on  
competition. Thus, if a national measure had to be condemned as
constituting a barrier to imports, in breach of Article 3 of the Treaty,
it could not be authorized by a Community act. By the same token,
Community rules could not back up or endorse conduct on the part of
firms if such conduct were contrary to Article 85 of the Treaty and  
could not qualify for any of the exemptions under that Article.
All the same, in assessing the impact on the book market of the Treaty  
requirements on the free movement of goods and unrestricted competition,  
it is important to take account of the specific features of that market:
- Firstly, with the exception of certain types of books (e.g. manuals,  
dictionaries, art reproduction books), competition operates mainly  
between different copies of the same book. Because of its cultural  
content, a book hardly ever has any competitors other than itself.
See Joined Cases 80 and 81/77 Commissionnaires réunis and Ramel v Receveur  
des douanes /1978/ ECR 927, where tHi Court invalidated Artie le 31(2) ôf  
Regulation No 816/70 in so far as it authorized the levying in intra-  
Community trade of charges having an effect equivalent to customs duties, on  
the ground that it was incompatible with Article 13 and Articles 38 to 46 of  
the Treaty.

- 9 -
- Secondly, the potential market for a book greatly depends on the  
culture with which it deals and the language in which it is written.  
Consequently, with the exception of English and French, and German in  
the case of scientific books, it is very unlikely that two books  
written in two different languages would compete with one another,  
whatever the prices involved. Apart from the exceptions mentioned,  
therefore, it is scarcely possible to talk of a Community-wide market  
for every book: the market is determined by the community's
linguistic areas, the frontiers of which do not always coincide with  
national frontiers.
It will be noted that the difficulties which may arise, from the  
point of view of the Treaty, in applying the national systems are  
generated mainly by the disparity between those systems.

-  10  -
In any event, if the abovementioned legal requirements are to be  
respected, a Community framework for book pricing systems could not  
confine itself merely to endorsing existing national measures and  
practices. To do so would amount to perpetuating the existing  
disparities between the national arrangements, and accepting any  
infringements of Community law which they may involve; this would be  
contrary to the whole justification for Community intervention, and  
is obviously out of the question.
The important thing is to avoid partitioning the domestic markets and  
guarantee free movement for books. The pricing rules to be applied  
to books in order to achieve the objectives set out above must cease  
to be strictly national in scope, as they are at present, and be  
extended to the Community as a whole. Such regulation at Community  
Level must at one and the same time remove any advantage inherent in  
any artificial commercial channels, thereby eliminating their grounds  
for existence, and abolish barriers to trade; to this end, the  
measures provided for should apply in each Member State without  
distinction to books published in that State and imported (or re­
imported) books.
6. As regards the content of the measures which a Community framework  
system for book pricing might contain, the Commission considers that two  
types of solution might be adopted, while the possibility of a third  
solution or of intermediate solutions should not be ruled out.
A choice may be made between applying the arrangements
- either to the retail prices of books;
- or to the prices publishers charge their direct buyers.
A. SOLUTION I
7. The first solution consists in organizing a pricing system for books at  
the retail stage. That would mean making the following provisions in  
the Directives:

-  11 -
- the retail price to be charged by booksellers throughout the  
Community would be fixed by the publisher;
- the price fixed by the publisher can be either a minimum price
calculated in such a way as to allow a sufficient margin for  
retailers, who would be free to charge higher prices, or else a  
prescribed price on which retailers could grant appreciable
di scounts;
- strict limitation of the period during which the price would be  
charged. The period during which the publisher fixes the retail  
price for the whole Community should in fact be a maximum, at the end  
of which freedom in regard to pricing is restored, and not, as in the  
case of certain national systems (United Kingdom for example), a  
minimum period at the end of which the publisher may either allow a  
return to unrestricted pricing or extend the prescribed price.
The fact that the pricing system envisaged would have to be a common one  
does not mean that it would necessarily have to be absolutely rigid,  
thus denying the publisher any freedom to differentiate the retail  
prices he fixes for the various Member States. But he could be allowed  
only a very narrow latitude here, solely in order to take account of  
objective differences relating to the situation and structure of the  
market in the Member States concerned (transport costs or other  
particular requirements).
8. A Community framework for book pricing systems developed on these lines  
would in no way preclude limiting its scope wherever justified by market  
conditions.
- First of all, there is no reason why certain particular channels of  
book distribution should not be exempted from the Community pricing  
rules, in line with practices which are fairly widespread in the  
application of national pricing systems at present. In particular,

-  12  -
such exemptions might be Laid down for:
- paperbacks;
- book club editions;
- books supplied to public libraries;  
school books.
- Community pricing rules need not necessarily be exactly the same for  
every book published in the Community. Depending on the cultural  
field they deal with, or the language they are written in, the  
potential area of distribution of books published in the different  
Member States may be restricted to the Member State of production or  
may include readers in the other Member States or certain other  
Member States. There may also be situations where the fixing of a  
single price for the whole Community would be pointless. There is  
nothing in Community law to prevent exemptions or more flexible rules  
in certain situations on the express condition that there are  
objective considerations which justify them. Limited exceptions on  
grounds of this kind are not likely to pose a threat to the unity of  
the common market. The books in question would obviously have to be
able to circulate in the Community without price constraints in such  
situations.
9. The following points may be put forward in favour of such a system:
- the possibility it affords of achieving the objectives pursued as
regards price security at the two levels where this is considered  
necessary: publishers and booksellers;
the fact that, by introducing a single retail price for the entire  
Community, it allows the Treaty rules on the free movement of goods  
to be respected;
- the fact that the leeway granted to booksellers as regards charging  
publisher's fixed price and the strict limits as to the period during  
which that price is to be charged guarantee that the principles of  
competition are respected.

- 13 -
10. The question remains of whether, in the system to be introduced, the  
fixing of a retail price by the publisher should be made compulsory or  
optional:
- in the first case, every publisher would be required to fix a retail  
selling price for every book published;
in the second, the framework directive would simply require  
Member States to authorize publishers established in their territory  
to use the system envisaged if they so wish.
The first solution would pave the way for a truly common and flawless  
system, since those involved could not opt out.
The second solution, on the other hand, would, because of its  
flexibility, impose little change on the systems currently applied. It  
would also allow greater room for competition.
B. SOLUTION II
11. The second solution would have the effect of limiting Community
involvement in book pricing and would also be compatible with the
principles established by the Commission and the Court regarding free  
competition in the book trade, since it would be concerned exclusively  
with the prices at which publishers sell books to direct buyers.
The directive would thus require publishers to sell their books in
principle at the same price to all customers. They could not therefore
sell them at a lower price, for example to book clubs or to wholesalers  
in other Member States.
The arguments in favour of this system are as follows:
— -jt would encourage the publishing of cultural books, since the poor  
return on "difficult" books could be made up by higher profit margins  
on books printed in Large numbers;

- 14 -
- it would leave national systems of fixing book prices intact. At a
\
purely national level, therefore, it would still be possible to fix  
the retail prices of books to protect booksellers; it would only be  
in intra-Community trade that this would not apply;
- freely determined retail prices in intra-Community trade would have  
only a negligible impact on purely national systems, since:
- competition operates mainly between different copies of the same  
book and probably to a very limited extent between low-priced  
foreign books and national books;
- experience in the Netherlands since 1979 has shown that the  
maintenance of the purely national system in that country has never  
been jeopardized by the fact that imports and re-imports were  
excluded from it;
- the obligation on publishers to apply the same selling price to  
different buyers throughout the Community will considerably reduce  
the economic benefit to be gained from re-importing books.
- a system of this kind would rule out the danger that a precedent would  
be set for a system of retail price maintenance in other sectors (for  
example, pharmaceutical products and insurance), a danger which must  
be removed at all costs;
- its implementation would be unlikely to raise practical difficulties,  
since it would simply be necessary to stipulate that publishers could  
not apply a discriminatory pricing policy towards their buyers. It  
would be necessary to check that these provisions were observed only  
in the country of the publisher (for example, through checks on his  
invoices).
12. Conclusions
As it has already stated, the Commission intends as soon as possible to  
engage in detailed consultations with all interested parties on the basis  
of the ideas set out in this memorandum.

- 15 -
It also hopes that this memorandum will provide the Council with a basis  
for a policy debate on the problem of book pricing. The Commission  
intends, for its part, to continue actively with its studies and  
analytical work.
It reserves the right to present appropriate proposals to the Council in  
the light of the results of those consultations, discussions and work.

ANNEX
Situation in the Member States concerning resale price maintenance for books
1. Member States with statutory resale price maintenance  
France
By virtue of the Law of 10 August 1981 (the Lang Law), publishers and  
importers are obliged to fix the retail price for books they publish or  
import.
As far as imported books are concerned, a distinction must be made between  
books published and re-imported into France and those published in other  
countries.
For books published and re-imported into France, the retail price to be fixed  
by the importer has to be at least equal to that fixed by the  
French publisher.
An amendment to the law is being prepared in order to take account of the  
consequences of the Court of Justice's ruling in the Leclerc case and which  
provides that the rules on retail prices should not apply to re-imported  
books, in so far as the exports and re-imports were not aimed at circumventing  
such rules. The law was adopted recently by the French Parliament. However  
its consequences are not yet clear.
For books published outside France a distinction should be made between those  
published in other Member States and those published in third countries.
For books published in other Member States, the decree of 28.2.1985 (which was  
adopted in order to take account of the Leclerc ruling) provides that the  
retail price to be fixed by the importer must not be less than the retail  
price prescribed or recommended for France by the foreign publisher or, if  
such a price does not exist, then the retail price prescribed or recommended  
by the foreign publisher in the country of publication.

-  2 -
For books published in third countries it is the importer, who is required to  
lodge the book with the National Library (Dépôt Légal), who must fix the  
retail price (which price has to be respected whether the books are already in  
free circulation, following their importation from another Member State, or
not).
Retailers are obliged to charge prices which do not differ by more than 5%  
from the price fixed by the publisher or importer, unless the most recent  
edition of the books was published or imported more than two years previously.
2. Member States with r.p.m. by virtue of private agreements,— which __are  
exempted or excluded from a total or partial legal prohibition of resale  
price maintenance agreements
Denmark
General prohibition of enforcement of r.p.m. agreements, from which books  
(amongst some other goods) have been exempted by the  
Monopolies Control Authority. Under the books r.p.m. agreement, prices are  
fixed by the publisher or, in the case of foreign books, by the principal or  
sole importer. Of the total turnover of Danish books, 85% are covered by the
r.p.m. agreement.
(Imported books account for some 10% of total book turnover.)
Germany ^
General prohibition of r.p.m. agreements, except for vertical agreements o  
r.p.m. for publications, «hereby the publisher fixes the retail prices of hion
s
publi cations

- 3 -
Most publishers have concluded such agreements with their resellers, who are  
obliged to respect the fixed prices. It seems that these agreements generally  
secure adherence to the said prices in the case of books which are re-imported  
into Germany.
The Commission has no information indicating that foreign publishers have 
fixed prices for their books imported into Germany. The period during which  
r.p.m. is enforced by publishers seems to vary.
Exports account for some 13-14% (of which more than 50% goes to Austria and  
Switzerland) of national turnover, whereas imports appear to account for  
roughly half of the value of exports (more than 40% coming from Austria and  
Switzerland).
Luxembourg
General prohibition of r.p.m. but books are exempt. However r.p.m. agreements  
do not apply to imported books, which account for the majority of total book  
sales in Luxembourg.
Nether lands
Prohibition of collective r.p.m. agreements and of individual
r.p.m. agreements for some products (such as audio-visual products and  
records).
A collective r.p.m. agreement has, however, been exempted by ministerial  
decree. This agreement obliges publishers and importers, who are party to it,  
to fix retail prices for books for at least two years. Following decisions of  
the Dutch courts since 1979, the agreement is, however, not applicable to  
imports and genuine re-imports.
The Dutch publishers who are party to the agreement publish some 70% of all  
books sold in the Netherlands.

Uni ted Kingdom- 4 -
General prohibition of r.p.m. agreements. An exemption has been granted in  
the case of the Net Book Agreement by the Restrictive Practices Court, whereby  
publishers and importers who are party to the agreement may fix the retail
prices of their books (which they may select to that end). Most publishers
are party to the agreement and apply it. ì
The fixed retail prices also apply to exports to Ireland and re-imports. Some
35-40% of the production of UK publishers is exported, some 20% of such
exports going to other EEC countries. The value of imports amounts to 50% of  
that of exports. A fairly substantial proportion of imports comes from other  
Member States. $
I
3. Member States without statutory r.p.m. for books, but where r.p.m. for  
books is provided for only by private agreements
Belgium !
;  j
Only in the Dutch-speaking area is there an r.p.m. agreement. Publishers and  
importers who are members of the organizations concerned are obliged to fix  
the retail prices for Dutch language books for at least two years.
i
More than 75% of such books are imported from the Netherlands. In the
IFrench-speaking area no r.p.m. agreement exists. «
".•è 
■  äj·
Ireland |
As far as books imported from the UK are concerned, the British Net Book  
Agreement applies. 4
More than 80% of Irish book sales are accounted for by imported books, more  
than 80% of which come from the UK, generally under the British Net Book  
Agreement. It is, however, rather difficult to evaluate fluctuations of  
exchange rates in regard to the effect of this agreement in Ireland.

- 5 -
Ita ly
«
According to information supplied to the Commission by the Italian Booksellers  
Association, no r.p.m. agreements exist, except for schoolbooks.
Mention should be made, however, of an agreement containing rules for  
calculating prices for imported books through the application of notional  
exchange rates. This agreement does, however, not appear to constitute a  
resale price maintenance system in the proper sense of the term.
4„ ;  Member S tates whei e j-p.m. is prohibited and where no private agreement,  
exempted from such· prohibition, exists
Greece
In Greece r.p.m. is prohibited. Exemptions have not been granted, even for  
books.
5. Final remark
In general, it should be borne in mind that in the Member States where resale  
price maintenance for books is applied, several exceptions exist. In such  
cases no r.p.m. applies or discounts are possible to a greater or lesser  
extent. Such is for example the case with sales to libraries, with
schoolbooks, with sales by bookclubs. Such sales are additional to those not  
covered by r.p.m. because the publishers or importers concerned do not apply  
r.p.m. All these sales constitute a significant proportion of total book  
sales, although this varies in the different Member States.