Commission publishes findings of evaluation of the EU competition rules on technology transfer agreements

The European Commission has published a Staff Working Document (‘SWD') that summarises the findings of its evaluation of the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (‘TTBER') and the accompanying Guidelines on the application of Article 101 of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements (‘Guidelines').

The aim of the evaluation was to gather evidence on the functioning of the TTBER and of the accompanying Guidelines, for the Commission to determine whether it should let the rules expire, prolong their duration or revise them. In view of the findings of the evaluation, the Commission will now launch an impact assessment to examine policy options for a revision of the rules.

Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: ”Our evaluation has shown that the current rules have proved useful for companies to assess whether their technology transfer agreements comply with EU competition rules. At the same time, the evaluation has identified several areas where the rules may need updating to reflect recent market developments and increase legal certainty. We will now reflect on how to address these issues to ensure that the rules remain fit for purpose.”

A press release is available online.

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