Notice published pursuant to Article 19(3) of Council Regulation No 17 — Case COMP.F.1/37.893 — CECED Water Heaters (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2001-09-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: consumer information, energy consumption, energy saving, heating, household electrical appliance, labelling

C 250/4

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.1/37.893 (cid:151) CECED Water Heaters

(2001/C 250/03)

(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
water heaters. CECED is applying for an exemption under
Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty and Article 53(3) of the EEA
Agreement.

argues that although the geographic dimension of
the
DESWH market seems, therefore, predominantly national,
the question needs not to be settled definitively in this case.
Whatever the geographic definition, EC-wide or national
markets,
the parties’ market shares and the volume of
production concerned are important enough to warrant
that the agreements have, at least, appreciable effects in
the market(s) concerned, according to CECED.

2. THE PARTIES

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 Atlantic Group, Baxi
SpA, Bosch Siemens Hausger(cid:228)te GmbH,
Electrolux
Productline Home Comfort/AEG Hausger(cid:228)te GmbH/,
Fagor ElectrodomØsticos S.Coop. Heatrae Sadia Heating
Ltd, Lorenzi Vasco SpA, Merloni Termosanitary SpA,
Siemens Heiztechnik, SociØtØ Thermique de Valence,
Stiebel Eltron Gmbh & Co. KG, Technoterm GmbH and
Joh. Vaillant GmbH & Co. All of them manufacture and
sell various domestic appliances in several Member States.

3. RELEVANT MARKET AND POSITION OF THE PARTIES

for

3. The agreement concerns domestic electric storage water
heaters (hereinafter (cid:145)DESWH(cid:146)) used for the purposes of
supplying hot water for use in private homes. Besides
systems are generally
DESWH, different appliances or
used in the EU, such as instantaneous gas-fuelled heaters
(either natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas), storage gas
heaters, gas or diesel-fuelled (cid:145)combi boilers(cid:146) and central or
district heating systems. CECED argues that price and
vary
each of
installation costs
considerably, so that they may not be easily substitutable
with each other. On the supply side, manufacturers are,
according to CECED, not active throughout the full range
of these appliances. The predominance of a particular alter-
native in a given Member State allegedly relies very heavily
on the availability of the various primary sources of energy
for domestic use, policies in this respect and national or
even regional patterns of housing. On this basis, CECED
the various appliances and systems which
argues that
including
supply hot water for use in private homes,
DESWH,
single
a
cannot be deemed to constitute
product market.

these products

4. According to CECED, virtually no EU manufacturer of
in other
DESWH is active throughout
Member States are allegedly minor and,
far
lower than in the manufacturer’s own country. CECED

if at all,

the EU;

sales

5. According to CECED, DESWH are relatively unsophis-
ticated products and sales volumes are stagnating or
declining in most national markets, which are allegedly
rather concentrated. The parties to the agreement are
in their Member
allegedly among the market
State of
the parties’
combined market
in most Member States are
higher than 60 % and that, for the EC as a whole, their
sales account for approximately 65 % of the total.

incorporation. CECED states that

leaders

shares

4. THE AGREEMENT

(i) production and imports of DESWH;

6. The agreement basically covers three sets of objectives
(ii)
concerning:
monitoring and reporting; and (iii) promotion of
tech-
nological development as well as consumer awareness.
The agreement will last until 31 December 2003.

7. The parties have mainly agreed the following:

following an undertaking to
Production and imports:
provide public declarations stating the standing losses of
their DESWH:

(cid:151) after 31 December 2000 (cid:151) each party stops producing
for and importing into the community DESWH, the
standing losses of which, expressed in kWh per 24
set
hours, exceed the maximum allowable values
forth in the agreement. Such values vary for small
(volume of 25 to 45 litres), vertical
(45 to 220
litres), horizontal (45 to 220 litres) DESWH (1);

(1) The maximum allowable values are as follows: (a) small unvented:
0,1474 + 0,0719 (cid:215) Volume 2/3, small vented: 0,1561 + 0,0802 (cid:215)
Volume 2/3; (b) vertical unvented: 0,224 + 0,0663 (cid:215) Volume 2/3,
vertical vented: 0,236 + 0,074 (cid:215) Volume 2/3; and (c) horizontal
unvented: 0,939 + 0,0104 (cid:215) Volume, horizontal vented: 1,034 +
0,0116 (cid:215) Volume.

8.9.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 250/5

(cid:151) by 1 January 2002 (cid:151) each party undertakes to reduce
the weighted average standing losses of its production
to certain thresholds for each of the above categories of
DESWH, except vented DESWH in the UK, where these
thresholds should be attained by the end of 2002 (1).

year in the long run compared with a business-as-usual
scenario. According to CECED, as individual purchasers,
consumers will obtain savings through reduced electricity
bills, which allow for recouping higher purchase costs.

available

It will be

Monitoring and reporting: CECED will
set up and
maintain a database containing an analysis of all models
of DESWH placed on the community market by all
to the European
participants.
Commission and national authorities. The fulfilment of
the objectives of the agreement will be monitored by a
notary who will
report annually to CECED and the
Commission. CECED itself will submit an annual report
to the Commission including aggregated data as to the
fulfilment of these objectives. Individual data will not be
disclosed to other parties, including CECED members.

Consumer awareness and technological advancement:
the participants have agreed to enhance consumer and
installer awareness about energy savings and to develop
insulation and other methods to further reduce standing
losses.

5. ARGUMENTS FROM CECED

8. 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 DESWH, which provide the same
service with less energy consumption, are likely to
replace those no longer allowed. According to CECED,
the agreement will
improve the efficiency of DESWH
sold in the EC by 29,1 %, when fully implemented.
Reduced stand-by losses of DESWH in the EC as a result
of the full implementation of the agreement will, in turn,
allegedly diminish electricity consumption by 9,8 TWh per

9. CECED stresses that the agreement leaves manufacturers
free to use whatever methods they choose in order to
meet their obligations and that the various provisions in
the agreement are necessary to obtain the benefits high-
lighted above. According to CECED, various technical alter-
natives
to the manufacturers
concerned. The agreement will allegedly not directly
restrict the parties as to other competitive factors such as
price, brand image and technical performance, which have
more weight in purchase decisions than energy efficiency,
according to CECED.

available

readily

are

6. INTENTION OF THE COMMISSION

10. Pursuant to its (cid:145)Guidelines on the applicability of Article 81
of the EC Treaty to horizontal cooperation agreements(cid:146) (2),
the Commission intends to take a favourable view towards
the notified agreement. Before doing so,
invites all
interested third parties
their observations
within 30 days of the publication of this notice, quoting
reference COMP.F.1/37.893 (cid:151) CECED Water Heaters, to:

to submit

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) The thresholds are as follows: (a) small: 0,13 + 0,0553 (cid:215) Volume
2/3; (b) vertical 0,2 + 0,051 (cid:215) Volume 2/3; and (c) horizontal: 0,75 +
0,008 (cid:215) Volume.

(2) 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.