Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-12-16-Speech-4-102"
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"en.19991216.3.4-102"2
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"I would like to thank Mr Rothley for his question and intervention, and I would like to mention that I have already discussed this subject with him at some length.
First of all, I would like to point out that the Commission started to address the cross-border system of fixed book prices in force in Germany and Austria a long time before the protest made by the Austrian company
in 1996. In fact, the proceedings in question began in 1993, with the Commission being notified of the cross-border agreements between German and Austrian publishers. This was followed in 1994, 1995 and 1996 respectively, by the protests of two sellers of German books and the Austrian federal workers’ association, an organisation which also has the task of defending consumer interests. The Commission has not yet completed its consideration of the cases in question and therefore cannot bring forward the decision that will be taken on the proceedings currently underway. It is the Commission’s duty not to discuss, apart from with those involved, an individual case on competition law where proceedings are open, but it can talk about the general points raised in an oral question, which is something I am very happy to do in your presence in this House.
National systems of fixed book prices may be based on national regulations or an agreement between companies, and in the case in point, between publishers and booksellers. It is impossible to make an exact comparison of such regulations and an agreement between companies: indeed, different provisions of the Treaty are applied. Systems based on regulations must be considered on the basis of Article 28 of the Treaty, whereas agreements between companies must comply with Article 81 of the Treaty. In both cases, the case-law of the Court of Justice must obviously be respected. The Commission believes that national systems of fixed book prices, based on agreements between companies, are compatible with Community competition rules if they do not significantly affect trade between Member States. In these cases where trade is affected, Article 81 is not applied. As for systems based on regulations, each Member State is free to adopt regulations as long as they are compatible with the principle, sanctioned by the Treaty, of the free movement of goods. This choice is left to the national authorities.
More particularly, as far as French legislation is concerned – which Mr Rothley has mentioned – and as it was drafted at the time, in the judgement of 10 January 1995 on the Leclerc case, no. 229/83 “Au blé vert”, the Court of Justice decreed that, in the sphere of national legislation establishing a fixed book price system, rules which establish that the publisher’s fixed price must be observed, as regards the sale of books published in the Member State itself, and which are reimported prior to export to another Member State, constitute measures with an effect equivalent to import restrictions, which are prohibited under Article 28 (ex Article 30) of the Treaty, unless there are well-grounded reasons to believe that the aforementioned books have been exported with the sole aim of reimporting them with the intention of evading the aforementioned law.
Finally, I would like to point out that such legislation, in Germany and Austria, would not contribute to the harmonisation of European law. Indeed, there are various Member States that have never had a system of fixed book prices and there are other Member States that had such a system and put an end to it, for example Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom which, as we know, have the same language as another Member State."@en1
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"Libro"1
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