54 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM revenue-sharing joint venture between Star Alliance members173 and profit- -sharing and the joint management of schedules, pricing and capacity arrangements between SkyTeam members174). Finally, the legislative pipeline for the upcoming months is substantial. The Commission announced the revision of two horizontal block exemption regulations (Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1217/2010 with regard to research and development agreements and Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1218/2010 with regard to specialisation agreements) and the Guidelines on the applicability of Article 101 of the Treaty to horizontal co-operation agreements. The process of consultations is expected to be finalised in 2021. General and overarching in its character, these changes will be equally important for tourism markets as well and shall be closely followed by the undertakings175. 5.2. Vertical agreements “Vertical agreements” comprise agreements or concerted practices between undertakings operating 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 services176. Genuine agency agreements, whereby the agent does not bear any – or bears only marginal – risks in relation to contracts concluded and/or negotiated on behalf of the principal, will fall outside the application of Article 101 TFEU. From the standpoint of competition law, vertical agreements are generally less problematic than horizontal ones. The Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) contains a general exemption for vertical agreements from the application of Article 101(1) TFEU on the condition that the market share of neither of the parties exceeds 30% and the agreement does not contain certain “hardcore restrictions”177. The 173 EC press release of 23.05.2013, Antitrust: Commission renders legally binding commitments from Star Alliance members Air Canada, United and Lufthansa on transatlantic air transport passenger market, available at: https:// europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-456_en.htm?locale=en. 174 EC press release of 12.05.2015, Antitrust: Commission accepts commitments by SkyTeam members Air France/ KLM, Alitalia and Delta on three transatlantic routes, available at: https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15- -4966_en.htm. 175 European Commission, Roadmap of Evaluation of the two Block Exemption Regulations for horizontal co-operation agreements, 05.09.2019; available at: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/betterregulation/initiative/11886/ publication/5763121/attachment/090166e5c72b479f_en. 176 Commission Regulation (EU) No. 330/2010 of 20 April 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, OJ L 102, 23.04.2010, pp. 1-7 (hereinafter: “Vertical Block Exemption Regulation”). 177 Ibid. Articles 2, 3 and 4.
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