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Certain types of vertical restraints are particularly likely to hinder competition and harm consumers. These hardcore restrictions will not benefit from the safe harbour provided in the VBER and will often amount to an infringement of Article 101 TFEU. Resale price maintenance (“RPM”) constitutes a prime example of such hardcore or black-listed restrictions.

Musat & Asociatii is delighted to announce the consolidation of its core partnership by appointing Paul Buta as Managing Partner and promoting three new Partners (Alexandru Terța, Iuliana Iacob and Andrei Ormenean). All four are exceptional lawyers with a combined professional experience of more than 55 years and a long and impressive career with the firm. Moreover, eight other lawyers have been promoted to senior positions in Criminal Law, Litigation & Arbitration, Corporate and Commercial Law, Labour and Employee Benefits, Competition, Intellectual Property and Life Sciences, as well as Restructuring and Insolvency.

Vertical agreements often contain a vast number of provisions, regulating different aspects of a vertical relationship. However, the EU competition rules determine that certain provisions cannot be included in distribution agreements since they impede competition to an extent that cannot be permitted. These are the so-called “hardcore restrictions”. Hardcore restrictions can be imposed both directly and indirectly, in which case the assessment is more complex, but the outcome is the same.