REVIEWS
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1988.tb01763.x |
| Date | 01 May 1988 |
| Published date | 01 May 1988 |
402
THE
MODERN
LAW
REVIEW
[Vol.
51
there may be little utility in pursuing the descriptive claim of
“hermeneutics in law
,”
a hermeneutical attitude towards law, opens
up existing and interesting horizons from which to view our legal
tradition. BRAD SHERMAN*
REVIEWS
EXCLUSIVE DEALING
IN
THE
EEC: REGULATION 67/67 REPLACED. By
VALENTINE KORAH [London: European Law Centre.
1984.
xv
and
101
pp.
f15.00.1
AS is well known, Article 85(1)
of
the EEC Treaty prohibits agreements
and other practices which restrict competition in the Common Market;
Article 85(3), on the other hand, empowers the Commission to grant
exemptions, provided certain requirements are met. Normally, a party
wishing to obtain exemption for an agreement prima facie contrary to
Article 85(1) must notify the agreement to the Commission and apply for
exemption. This application will then be dealt with on an individual basis,
usually after a fairly lengthy delay. In certain special cases, however,
provision has been made for block exemptions for whole classes
of
agreements. Where these apply, there is no need for notification: the
agreement is exempted automatically. Naturally this has considerable
advantages for the parties concerned. This book is concerned with block
exemptions for one such class
of
agreements, exclusive dealing agreements.
Provision for the block exemption
of
these agreements was originally
made by Regulation
67/67.
This
has now been replaced by two new
regulations, Regulation 1983/83 and Regulation 1984/83. The former deals
with exclusive distribution agreements (under which the supplier promises
to
supply the distributor and no one else within a defined territory), while
the latter covers exclusive purchasing agreements (under which the
distributor agrees to purchase specified goods only from the supplier). The
latter regulation contains special provisions dealing with tied pubs and
service stations.
The purchaser of Professor Korah’s book gets a copy
of
the regulations
themselves, a copy
of
the Commission’s Explanatory Memorandum, which
explains how the Commission interprets the regulations, and Professor
Korah’s text, which is in effect a commentary on the regulations and the
Memorandum.
Though written for the competition law specialist, this book can be read
with profit by any lawyer with a basic knowledge
of
the subject. He or she
would, however, be well advised to reverse the order
of
the materials in
the book and start by reading the regulations, then go on to
the Commission’s Memorandum and finally tackle Professor Korah’s
commentary. The latter, which is 58 pages long, builds on the author’s
earlier article, “Group Exemptions for Exclusive Distribution and
Purchasing in the EEC” which appeared in (1984) 21
Common
Marker
Law
Review
53. It is written with Professor Korah’s customary lucidity and
flair and deals both with technical, legal arguments and the broader
*
Lecturer in
Law,
Brunel
University.
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