Cooperation is of a ‘horizontal nature’ if an agreement is entered into between actual or potential competitors. In addition, these guidelines also cover horizontal cooperation agreements between non-competitors, for example, between two companies active in the same product markets but in different geographic markets without being potential competitors. Horizontal cooperation agreements can lead to substantial economic benefits, in particular if they combine complementary activities, skills or assets. Horizontal cooperation can be a means to share risk, save costs, increase investments, pool know-how, enhance product quality and variety, and launch innovation faster. On the other hand, horizontal cooperation agreements may lead to competition problems. This is, for example, the case if the parties agree to fix prices or output or to share markets, or if the cooperation enables the parties to maintain, gain or increase market power and thereby is likely to give rise to negative market effects with respect to prices, output, product quality, product variety or innovation. The Commission, while recognising the benefits that can be generated by horizontal cooperation agreements, has to ensure that effective competition is maintained. Article 101 provides the legal framework for a balanced assessment taking into account both adverse effects on competition and pro-competitive effects. © EUR Lex

This Glossary matches the list of keywords used by Concurrences search engine. Each keyword is automatically updated by the most recent EU and national case laws from the e-Competitions Bulletin and Concurrences Review. The definitions are excerpt from DG COMP’s Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy (© European Union, 2002) and the OECD’s Glossary of industrial organisation economics and competition law (© OECD, 1993).
Cooperation Agreement
Glossary
A
Absolute territorial protection
•
Abuse of dominant position
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Abuse of economic dependence
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Access to essential facility
•
Access to information
•
Access to the file
•
Agency agreement
•
Agent
•
Agreement (notion)
•
Amicus curiae
•
Ancillary restraints
•
Annulment
•
Anticompetitive objet or effect
•
Anticompetitive practices
•
Applicable law
•
Arbitration
B
C
Cartel
•
Clearance phase I (merger)
•
Clearance phase II (merger)
•
Collecting society
•
Collective dominance
•
Collective redress (class action)
•
Competence
•
Competition policy
•
Competition policy
•
Complaint
•
Compliance programme
•
Compulsory license
•
Concerted practices
•
Concession
•
Concurrent jurisdiction
•
Consumers protection
•
Consumers’ associations
•
Control (change)
•
Control (notion)
•
Cooperation Agreement
•
Cooperation between competition authorities
•
Coordinated effects
•
Copyright
•
Corporate group
•
Corruption
•
Cost-based access
•
Criminal sanctions
•
Cross subsidisation
D
E
ECHR
•
Economic analysis
•
Economic efficiency
•
Effect on trade between Member States
•
Effective judicial protection
•
Environmental protection
•
Essential facility
•
European Competition Network (ECN)
•
Excess prices
•
Exchanges of information
•
Exclusive distribution
•
Exclusive purchasing agreement
•
Exclusive right (Art. 106 TFEU)
•
Exclusivity clause
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Exhaustion
•
Extra-territoriality
F
I
M
P
Parallel imports (parallel trade)
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Passing-on
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Pay-for-delay
•
Periodic penalty payment
•
Personal data
•
Predatory pricing
•
Preliminary ruling (Art. 267 TFUE)
•
Price discrimination
•
Price-fixing agreement
•
Prices
•
Principle of effectiveness
•
Principle of equal treatment
•
Principle of equivalence
•
Principle of proportionality
•
Private enforcement
•
Privatization
•
Procedural autonomy
•
Professional association
•
Public procurement
•
Public undertaking
R
S
Sector inquiry
•
Selective distribution
•
Services of general economic interest
•
Single branding
•
Sole control
•
Spill-over effects
•
Standard-Essential Patent (SEP)
•
State action defense
•
State aid (compatibility)
•
State aid (existing aid)
•
State aid (notification)
•
State aid (notion)
•
State aid (recovery)
•
State aid (tax ruling)
•
State aid (unlawful aid)
•
State measure
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Sudden break of established business relationships