Notice published pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 — Case COMP.F.1/37.894 — CECED Dishwashers (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2001-09-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, energy consumption, energy saving, household electrical appliance, labelling, technological change

C 250/2

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

8.9.2001

Notice published pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17

Case COMP.F.1/37.894 (cid:151) CECED Dishwashers

(2001/C 250/02)

(Text with EEA relevance)

1. INTRODUCTION

1. On 20 June 2000, the Conseil europØen de la construction
d’appareils domestiques (CECED), notified an agreement
((cid:145)the agreement(cid:146)) dated 19 November 1999 committing
some of its members to improve the energy efficiency of
an
household
exemption under Article 81(3) of
the EC Treaty and
Article 53 (3) of the EEA Agreement.

dishwashers. CECED is

applying

for

covers

basically

according to their energy efficiency. There are seven
categories of energy efficiency ranging from A to G. The
agreement
of objectives
concerning: (i) production and imports of domestic dish-
washers; (ii) monitoring and reporting; and (iii) promotion
of
consumer
is open to new participants and remains
awareness.
valid until 31 December 2004.

technological

development

as well

three

sets

as

It

2. THE PARTIES

5. The parties have mainly agreed the following:

of

and

domestic

appliances

2. CECED is an association based in Brussels comprising
trade
manufacturers
associations. CECED members and other participants who
have signed the agreement include Antonio Merloni SpA,
Ar(cid:231)elik AT, Bosch Siemens Hausger(cid:228)te GmbH, Brandt SA,
Candy Elettrodomestici SRL, Electrolux Holdings Ltd, Fagor
ElectrodomØsticos S.Coop, Gorenje d.d., Merloni Elettrodo-
mestici SpA, Miele & Cie GmbH & Co., SMEG SpA and
Whirlpool Europe SRL. All of them manufacture and sell
a wide range of domestic appliances under various brands
in various Member States.

3. RELEVANT MARKET AND POSITION OF THE PARTIES

of

3. The agreement relates to household dishwashers used to
wash crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils in private
homes. CECED argues that
there are no other product
substitutes to household dishwashers, which as a distinct
product market, allegedly cannot be broken down into
narrower product markets according to specific charac-
teristics
no
competitors with significant
sales volumes or market
shares who produce for and sell into the EC are excluded
from the agreement and imports into the EC account for a
negligible proportion of final sales. CECED argues that there
are indications that the relevant geographic dimension of
covers western Europe (1). The parties’
the market
combined market share in the EC is allegedly close to
100 %.

dishwashers. According

to CECED,

4. THE AGREEMENT

4. Pursuant to Commission Directive 97/17/EC (2), household
dishwashers sold in the EU are classified and labelled

(1) See also Commission Decision of 21.6.1994 pursuant to Article
6(1)(b) Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 (Case No IV/M.458
(cid:151) Electrolux/AEG) (OJ C 187, 9.7.1994, point 21).
(2) Commission Directive 97/17/EC of 16 April 1997,

implementing
Council Directive 92/75 with regard to energy labelling of
household dishwashers (OJ L 118, 7.5.1997, p. 1).

Production and imports: pursuant
to the agreement’s
main objective of reducing the overall European production
weighted average energy consumption of dishwashers by
20 % by the year 2002, the participants have agreed to
cease producing for and importing into the EC the
following categories of dishwashers:

(cid:151) by 31 December 2000 (cid:151) (the first step), dishwashers
belonging to the energy efficiency classes E, F and G (for
dishwashers with more than 10 or just 10 place settings)
and F and G for dishwashers with less than 10 place
settings,

(cid:151) by 31 December 2003 (cid:151) (the second step), dishwashers
belonging to the energy efficiency class D (for dish-
washers with 10 or more place settings) or E (for dish-
washers with less than 10 place settings).

Monitoring and reporting: CECED will
set up and
maintain a database containing an analysis of all models
of dishwashers placed on the EC market by all participants.
It will be available to the European Commission and
national authorities. The results will be monitored by a
notary who will report annually to CECED and to the
Commission. CECED itself will submit an annual report to
the Commission
aggregate
information and data collated by the notary: (i) the overall
production weighted energy consumption of dishwashers
based on the notary’s report; and (ii) the proportion of
dishwashers according to the number of place settings, a
chart showing the distribution of energy efficiency classes
and a histogram of the proportion of each cleaning/drying
performance efficiency classes. Individual data will not be
disclosed to other parties, including CECED members.

following

including

the

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 250/3

Consumer awareness and technological advancement:
the participants have agreed to educate consumers on the
environmentally conscious use of dishwashers and to give
more information in operating manuals about ways to save
energy and water. The participants have also agreed to
cooperate with national energy authorities on common
programmes to promote the efficient use of dishwashers.
Furthermore, the participants have agreed to promote tech-
nological advancement with a view to reducing the energy
consumption of dishwashers by introducing enzymatic
detergent programmes where those detergents are available,
by switching from 65 (cid:176)C to 50/55 (cid:176)C for one-temperature
dishwashers and by participating in research for
low
temperature rinsing.

7. CECED stresses that the agreement leaves manufacturers free
to use whatever methods they choose in order to meet their
obligations on improving the energy efficiency of their dish-
washers. Various technical alternatives are readily available
to the manufacturers concerned, according to CECED. More
generally,
the various provisions in the agreement are
allegedly necessary to obtain the benefits highlighted
above. According to CECED,
the agreement will not
directly restrict the parties as to other competitive factors
such as price, brand image and technical performance. Such
aspects have more weight in purchase decisions than energy
efficiency,
in a market which is dynamic and growing,
where saturation is not apparent, according to CECED.

5. ARGUMENTS FROM CECED

6. INTENTION OF THE COMMISSION

allowed. According to CECED,

6. According to CECED, even though the agreement may
restrict competition within the meaning of Article 81(1),
the agreement will contribute to technological progress
since more efficient dishwashers, which provide the same
service with less energy consumption, are likely to replace
the
those no longer
agreement would improve the efficiency of dishwashers
sold in the EC by more than 20 %, when fully implemented.
Electricity consumption stemming from the operation of
dishwashers in the EC could thus allegedly be reduced by
3,2 TWh per year in the long run compared with a
business-as-usual
purchasers,
consumers will allegedly obtain savings through reduced
electricity bills, which allow for recouping higher purchase
costs.

scenario. As

individual

8. Pursuant to its (cid:145)Guidelines on the applicability of Article 81
of the EC Treaty to horizontal cooperation agreements(cid:146) (1),
the Commission intends to take a favourable view towards
the notified agreement. Before doing so,
invites all
interested third parties to submit their observations within
30 days of the publication of this notice, quoting reference
COMP.F.1/37.894 (cid:151) CECED Dishwashers, to:

it

European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Directorate F (cid:151) Consumer goods and capital goods
industries
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels.

(1) OJ C 3, 6.1.2001, p. 3,

in particular, chapter 7,

(cid:145)Environmental

agreements(cid:146), points 180, 186, 189-90 and 194 to 197.