This book tackles the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation ("VBER"). The VBER 2022 is the new playbook in Europe for vertical agreements. Vertical agreements, i.e. between parties from different levels of the production or distribution chain, are ubiquitous in the EU economy. Vertical agreements which appreciably restrict competition are, in principle, void, and subject to fines. By exception, agreements may already fall outside the scope of competition law or may be exempt if their pro-competitive effects prevail. Whether they do or not requires an individual assessment of each agreement, with respective legal uncertainty. The VBER, however, is the shortcut to legally certain vertical agreements because it exempts groups of vertical agreements from the prohibition of anti-competitive agreements. It therefore builds the practical core of distribution law. Only understanding and implementing the VBER ensures a compliant distribution set-up. This goes for all kinds of vertical agreements, especially: digital, dual, exclusive and selective distribution plus franchise.
The VBER 2022 is intended to take into account market developments, in particular the strong growth in e-commerce. Digitalisation has reinforced the trend toward verticalization - and thus toward dual distribution. The VBER 2022 now "reboots" the existing playbook, making it fit for digital distribution. And this book shall help - as a shortcut to understanding the VBER - to quickly and easily pass the transition to the new rules.
This book is written from the distribution / contract drafting perspective. It is born out of the author's practice as German attorney-at-law and partner in the international law firm Taylor Wessing. This book aims at providing private practitioners, in-house counsels as well as officers within authorities and judges practical guidance on the "rebooted" competition law regime in the European Union, including many examples of provisions to be used, especially in distribution and franchise agreements. It also tables and checklists for creating new and adapting existing agreements to the VBER. This book has been written while accompanying the reform discussions and the introduction of the VBER 2022 as an author, speaker and private practitioner.
About the Author: Dr. Benedikt Rohrßen is a German attorney-at-law and a partner at the international law firm Taylor Wessing. He leads the firm's Commercial Agreements & Distribution practice group. Benedikt specialises in the design and long-term strategic development of distribution and franchise systems, with a particular penchant for digital distribution and distribution-related competition law.
In addition, Benedikt serves on the editorial board of the Zeitschrift für Vertriebsrecht (Journal for Distribution Law), as a lecturer on commercial, distribution and competition law at the Munich Business School, as a lecturer on franchise law at the Deutsches Franchise Institut (Berlin) and is involved in various international organizations, including the T.R.A.D.E. Commission of the International Young Lawyers' Association (as whose President he served until September 2022), the International Distribution Institute, the International Bar Association and the European Competition Lawyers' Association.
Numerous publications, lectures and webinars attest to his proven expertise at the crossroads of distribution and competition law - including, beyond commenting on German commercial agency law, more than 30 contributions on franchising, selective distribution and antitrust/competition law in various law journals such as ZVertriebsR, GRUR-Prax, IWRZ, BB and IHR since 2016.
