ECJ 1. Article 85(1) of the Treaty must be interpreted as meaning that it prohibits an obligation imposed by the leading manufacturer of motor vehicles in a Member State on all its dealers established in that State to develop activities as agents for leasing transactions exclusively for the account of its own leasing company.
By restricting the access of leasing companies competing with the company owned by the manufacturer to leasing transactions concerning the manufacturer’ s vehicles and by preventing the manufacturer’ s dealers from developing a leasing business in their own name and for their own account, such exclusive agency agreements have the object, or at least effect, of restricting competition to an appreciable extent. Secondly, such contracts affect trade between Member States, since those dealers are unable to act either as intermediaries for leasing companies established in other Member States or to conclude leasing contracts for their own account with consumers established in other Member States.
2. Regulation No 123/85 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to certain categories of motor vehicle distribution and servicing agreements must be interpreted as meaning that it does not exempt an obligation imposed by the leading motor vehicle manufacturer in a Member State on all its dealers established in that State to develop activities as agents for leasing transactions exclusively for the account of its own leasing company.
Citations:
C-266/93, [1995] EUECJ C-266/93
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Commercial
Updated: 03 June 2022; Ref: scu.161122
