9 May 2025

In “Beevers” Case Court of Justice of EU Explains when Exclusive Distributor Can Benefit from Restrictions on Active Sales into its Territory

1 min read

The Court of Justice of the EU has specified the conditions under which restrictions on active sales in a territory exclusively allocated by a supplier to a buyer can benefit from an exemption under the Vertical Block Exemption.

The Court of Justice of the EU held yesterday that restrictions on active sales in a territory exclusively allocated by a supplier to a buyer can benefit from an exemption under Article 4 (b)(i) of the 2010 VBER only if:

the supplier has asked its other buyers not to engage in active sales in the territory exclusively allocated to that buyer; and
these other buyers have accepted or at least acquiesced in that request.

The CJEU held that the mere circumstance that all other buyers but the one who prompted the dispute refrained from actively selling into the exclusively allocated territory is not sufficient to establish the existence of this arrangement.

Attachments:

Note on Beevers Kaas case

CJEU Judgment EN

CJEU Judgment NL

CJEU Judgment FR