CELEX: E2001J0007
Language: en
Date: 2002-10-18 00:00:00
Title: Judgment of the Court of 18 October 2002 in Case E-7/01: Request for an Advisory Opinion from Gulating lagmannsrett (Gulating Court of Appeal): Hegelstad Eiendomsselskap Arvid B. Hegelstad and Others v Hydro Texaco AS (Competition — Exclusive purchasing agreement — Service station agreement — Article 53 EEA — Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1984/83 — Nullity)

Important legal notice

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E2001J0007

Judgment of the Court of 18 October 2002 in Case E-7/01: Request for an Advisory Opinion from Gulating lagmannsrett (Gulating Court of Appeal): Hegelstad Eiendomsselskap Arvid B. Hegelstad and Others v Hydro Texaco AS (Competition — Exclusive purchasing agreement — Service station agreement — Article 53 EEA — Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1984/83 — Nullity)  

Official Journal C 010 , 16/01/2003 P. 0011 - 0011

Judgment of the Courtof 18 October 2002in Case E-7/01: Request for an Advisory Opinion from Gulating lagmannsrett (Gulating Court of Appeal): Hegelstad Eiendomsselskap Arvid B. Hegelstad and Others v Hydro Texaco ASCompetition - Exclusive purchasing agreement - Service station agreement - Article 53 EEA - Commission Regulation EEC No 1984/83 - Nullity(2003/C 10/10)In Case E-7/01: request to the Court under Article 34 of the Agreement between the EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice by Gulating lagmannsrett (Gulating Court of Appeal) for an Advisory Opinion in the case pending before it between Hegelstad Eiendomsselskap Arvid B. Hegelstad and Others and Hydro Texaco AS on the interpretation of Article 53 of the EEA Agreement, the Court, composed of Thór Vilhjálmsson, President, Carl Baudenbacher (Judge-Rapporteur) and Per Tresselt, Judges, gave a judgment on 18 October 2002, the operative part of which declares as follows:1. An agreement between a supplier of motor fuels and lubricants and an independent service station operator that provides for an exclusive purchasing obligation that may not be terminated by the service station operator for a period of 15 years, does not fall within the block exemption on exclusive purchasing agreements in Regulation (EEC) No 1984/83.2. The prohibition laid down by Article 53(1) EEA does not apply to an exclusvie purchasing agreement entered into between a supplier of motor fuels and lubricants and an independent service station operator for a fixed period of 15 years, where that type of agreement makes only an insignificant contribution to the cumulative closing-off effect produced by the totality of agreements on the market.3. The automatic nullity provided for in Article 53(2) EEA applies only to those parts of the agreement affected by the prohibition in Article 53(1) EEA. It is for the national court to determine, in accordance with the relevant national law, whether the nullity affects the validity of other parts of the agreement.