The EU Commission reviews its guidelines on vertical restraints within the broader context of the review of the Vertical Block Exemption regulation

The European Commission (“Commission”) is currently reviewing its Guidelines on Vertical Restraints (“Vertical Guidelines”) within the broader context of the review of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (“VBER”) and consulted on its proposals last year. It has now launched a further consultation on guidance on information exchange in dual distribution relationships. The deadline is short – interested parties are invited to submit comments by 18 February 2022. Background Our update on the draft VBER and draft Vertical Guidelines published last July is available here. The Commission’s July drafts included limiting the safe harbour for dual distribution by specifying in Article 2(5) of the VBER that a dual distribution agreement would be block-exempt, provided the parties’ aggregate