Research and development, joint ventures and the European Economic Community competition rules

This paper examines the approach of the Commission under the competition rules of the EEC Treaty to agreements for collaboration in research and development. Until 1983, it habitually found that such agreements restricted competition contrary to Article 85(1), but exempted them on grounds of efficiency. It was necessary to notify them to the Commission if an exemption was required and it was likely that some condition would be attached, enabling each party to renegotiate the contract. To reduce the risk of invalidity and so encourage collaboration, the Commission has granted a group exemption for collaboration in R&D, which the author analyses, but it has been drawn so narrowly that it is unlikely to be of much use commercially.