The Hungarian Metropolitan Court of Appeal rules on the validity of the agreements concluded by members of a horizontal cartel with their customers (Fruit Contracts)

In a landmark decision published in December 2010, the Court of Appeal of Budapest had the opportunity to rule on the important question of the validity of agreements concluded by members of a horizontal cartel with their customers (so-called “fruit contracts” or “Folgeverträge”) under Hungarian civil law. The court ruled that such vertical “fruit contracts” should be distinguished from the original horizontal cartel agreement: while the latter is clearly regarded as a null and void agreement within the meaning of Hungarian civil law, the former contracts - which do not have as their object or effect the restriction of competition - are not tainted with similar nullity. The decision is expected to have wide-ranging implications for private enforcement cases in Hungary (i.e. actions based