Abstract

The paper surveys the new EC Guidelines on horizontal co-operation agreements and focuses on the main novelties. The Guidelines revise the previous analysis concerning the most common forms of cooperation (namely, research and developments agreements; production and specialization agreements; purchasing agreements; agreements on commercialization; standardization agreements) and insert a most welcomed new chapter on information exchanges that fills a legal gap. The main novelties are: (i) the definition of a category of agreements for which, albeit having as their object to restrict competition, efficiencies are also to be taken into account, in contrast with hardcore restraints; (ii) the need to assess both ex ante and ex post the restrictive effects of agreements that - as is the case for information exchanges - may change the market conditions in a way that collusion is facilitated.