Order of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 4 December 2014

1. Agreements, decisions and concerted practicesProhibitionConditionsEffect on trade between Member StatesAdverse effect on competitionAppreciable effectExclusive distribution agreement for motor-vehicle fuels and other fuels between a supplier and a service station operator not benefitting from the block exemptionAssessment in the light of the economic and legal context (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 25, 26, 35-37, operative part 1)

2. Agreements, decisions and concerted practicesAdverse effect on competitionExclusive purchasing agreementsCriteria for assessmentAccessibility of the marketSignificant contribution of the agreement in dispute to a possible closing-off of the market resulting from the body of similar agreements taken together (Art. 81(1) EC) (see paras 28-32)

3. CompetitionEU rulesCommission Notice on agreements of minor importance which do not appreciably restrict competitionNo binding effect on Member States (Art. 81 EC; Commission Communication 2001/C 368/07) (see paras 34)

4. Agreements, decisions and concerted practicesProhibitionBlock exemptionExclusive purchasing agreementsAgreement concluded under Regulation No 1984/83 and producing effects after the entry into force of Regulation No 2790/1999Agreement satisfying the requirements for exemption under Regulation No 1984/83 but not those under Regulation No 2790/1999Temporal limitation of the exemption (Art. 81 EC; Commission Regulations No 1984/83, as amended by Regulation No 1582/97, and No 2790/1999, Art. 12(2)) (see paras 44-48, operative part 2)

Operative part

1. A contract, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which provides for the creation of a surface right, in favour of a supplier of petroleum products, allowing that supplier to build a service station and let the service station to the owner of the land, and which contains a long-term exclusive purchasing obligation, does not have the effect of restricting competition appreciably and is therefore not caught by the prohibition set out in Article 81(1) EC given that, first, that supplier’s market share is less than 3%, compared to the cumulative market share of about 70% held by three other suppliers, and, second, the duration of that contract is not manifestly excessive compared to the average duration of contracts generally concluded on the relevant market, which is a matter for the referring court to verify.

2. Article 12(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2790/1999 of 22 December 1999 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to categories of vertical agreements and concerted practices must be interpreted as meaning that a contract — containing a non-compete clause — which was already in force on 31 May 2000 and which satisfies the conditions laid down by Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1984/83 of 22 June 1983 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to categories of exclusive purchasing agreements, as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1582/97 of 30 July 1997, but which does not satisfy the conditions laid down by Regulation No 2790/1999, is excepted from the prohibition set out in Article 81(1) EC until 31 December 2001.