Comfort letter

Comfort letter in the European Union Law

Concept of Comfort letter provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Administrative letter sent to the notifying parties confirming informally and normally without any reasoning either: — that the Commission sees no grounds for action against an agree-ment under Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, because it does not restrict competition and/or affect trade between Member States (negative clearance-type comfort letter), or — that the agreement fulfils the conditions for granting an exemption under Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty (exemption-type comfort letter).