Individual exemption

Individual exemption in the European Union Law

Concept of Individual exemption provided by the “Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy” (Antitrust and control of concentrations, published in 2002): Decision of the Commission pursuant to Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty to exempt notified agreements between companies from the prohibi-tion of Article 81(1) of the EC Treaty, on the basis of an individual assessment (Block exemption regulation). In broad terms, restric-tive agreements qualify for exemption if their benefits to general welfare (product improvement, technical or economic progress, benefits to consumer) outweigh their restrictive effects on competition.