Commission Regulation (EU) No 461/2010 of 27 May 2010 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices in the motor vehicle sector (Text with EEA relevance)

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

1. ‘vertical agreement’ means an agreement or concerted practice entered into between two or more undertakings each of which operates, for the purposes of the agreement or the concerted practice, at a different level of the production or distribution chain, and relating to the conditions under which the parties may purchase, sell or resell certain goods or services;

2. ‘vertical restraint’ means a restriction of competition in a vertical agreement falling within the scope of Article 101(1) of the Treaty;

3. ‘authorised repairer’ means a provider of repair and maintenance services for motor vehicles operating within the distribution system set up by a supplier of motor vehicles;

4. ‘authorised distributor’ means a distributor of spare parts for motor vehicles operating within the distribution system set up by a supplier of motor vehicles;

5. ‘independent repairer’ means:

   1. a provider of repair and maintenance services for motor vehicles not operating within the distribution system set up by the supplier of the motor vehicles for which it provides repair or maintenance;

   2. an authorised repairer within the distribution system of a given supplier, to the extent that it provides repair or maintenance services for motor vehicles in respect of which it is not a member of the respective supplier’s distribution system;

6. ‘independent distributor’ means:

   1. a distributor of spare parts for motor vehicles not operating within the distribution system set up by the supplier of the motor vehicles for which it distributes spare parts;

   2. an authorised distributor within the distribution system of a given supplier, to the extent that it distributes spare parts for motor vehicles in respect of which it is not a member of the respective supplier’s distribution system;

7. ‘motor vehicle’ means a self-propelled vehicle intended for use on public roads and having three or more road wheels;

8. ‘spare parts’ means goods which are to be installed in or upon a motor vehicle so as to replace components of that vehicle, including goods such as lubricants which are necessary for the use of a motor vehicle, with the exception of fuel;

9. ‘selective distribution system’ means a distribution system where the supplier undertakes to sell the contract goods or services, either directly or indirectly, only to distributors selected on the basis of specified criteria and where these distributors undertake not to sell such goods or services to unauthorised distributors within the territory reserved by the supplier to operate that system.

For the purposes of this Regulation, the terms ‘undertaking’, ‘supplier’, ‘manufacturer’ and ‘buyer’ shall include their respective connected undertakings.

‘Connected undertakings’ means:

1. undertakings in which a party to the agreement, directly or indirectly:

   1. has the power to exercise more than half the voting rights; or

   2. has the power to appoint more than half the members of the supervisory board, board of management or bodies legally representing the undertaking; or

   3. has the right to manage the undertaking’s affairs;

2. undertakings which directly or indirectly have, over a party to the agreement, the rights or powers listed in point (a);

3. undertakings in which an undertaking referred to in point (b) has, directly or indirectly, the rights or powers listed in point (a);

4. undertakings in which a party to the agreement together with one or more of the undertakings referred to in points (a), (b) or (c), or in which two or more of the latter undertakings, jointly have the rights or powers listed in point (a);

5. undertakings in which the rights or the powers listed in point (a) are jointly held by:

   1. parties to the agreement or their respective connected undertakings referred to in points (a) to (d); or

   2. one or more of the parties to the agreement or one or more of their connected undertakings referred to in points (a) to (d) and one or more third parties.