Article 1
On the basis of the facts in its possession, the Commission has no grounds for action under Article 81(1) of the Treaty in respect of the notified agreements for the period after 28 March 1998.
2000/484/EC: Commission Decision of 29 June 2000 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Cases IV/36.456/F3 - Inntrepreneur and IV/36.492/F3 - Spring) (notified under document number C(2000) 1591) (Only the English text is authentic)
2000/484/EC: Commission Decision of 29 June 2000 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Cases IV/36.456/F3 - Inntrepreneur and IV/36.492/F3 - Spring) (notified under document number C(2000) 1591) (Only the English text is authentic)
Data as of 2026-07-04 Β· Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. Β· Read the official text β
Article 2
This Decision is addressed to The Grand Pub Company Ltd, c/o Mill House, Aylesbury Road, Thame, Oxfordshire OX9 3AT, United Kingdom. Done at Brussels, 29 June 2000. For the Commission Mario Monti Member of the Commission (1) OJ 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62. (2) OJ L 148, 15.6.1999, p. 5. (3) OJ C 133, 30.4.1998, p. 23 for both cases for the situation after 28 March 1998. (4) On-licensed premises are those which are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on and off the premises as opposed to off-licensed premises such as supermarkets which are licensed for off-premises consumption only. (5) OJ L 173, 30.6.1983, p. 5. (6) OJ L 214, 6.8.1997, p. 27. (7) OJ C 374, 10.12.1997, p. 11 for Case IV/36.456/F3 - Inntrepreneur; OJ C 61, 26.2.1998, p. 3 for Case IV/36.492/F3 - Spring. (8) The United Kingdom Government extended the scope by also allowing for one bottle-conditioned beer from 1 April 1998. (9) The Commission does not have precise information on the market shares of the other United Kingdom brewers. Nevertheless, it does not estimate that the HHI for all brewers would reach the 1800 mark as from which a market is considered to be "highly concentrated". (10) Defined in the MMC report as brewers which "have a business which is mainly, but not necessarily wholly, concentrated in a single region of the United Kingdom". The number of regionals is defined taking the number of owned pubs and production volume for the smallest regional in the MMC report as a benchmark. (11) The licensing system is slightly different in Scotland. (12) Other publications have estimated the number of pubs at 61000. (13) This is also sometimes called a guest beer, although the legal definition of a guest beer refers to the purchase of a cask-conditioned beer from another supplier (see recital 13). (14) Except for a limited number of specified reasons, i.e. the owner of the pub wants to use the outlet for his own purposes as a managed house, in which case the lessee receives compensation fixed by law, the parties can negotiate a new agreement. In the absence of a new agreement, the United Kingdom courts will renew the agreement on similar terms to the existing agreement with the exception of the rent and the duration which cannot exceed 14 years. (15) Subject to some further formalities. (16) Case 27/76, United Brands, ECR [1978], 207, paragraph 12. (17) Case C-234/89, Stergios Delimitis v Henninger BrΓ€u, ECR [1991] I-935, paragraph 16. (18) The German (procedural language) version of the judgment uses the term 'Schankwirtschaften'. In the French version, being the working language within the Court, the term 'cafΓ©s' is used. (19) OJ C 101, 13.4.1984, p. 2. (20) Extracts from Stats MR's survey of retail prices, submitted by a national brewer to the Office of Fair Trading. (21) Delimitis, loc. cit.; paragraph 10 of the judgment. (22) Cases T-7 & 9/93 Langnese-Iglo and SchΓΆller, [1995] ECR II-1539 and II-1611, paragraphs 112 and 87 respectively. (23) Delimitis, loc. cit.; paragraph 24 of the judgment. (24) The Commission recognises that there are practical limits as to the number of "product lines" (not necessarily equal to brands as one brand might be stocked in different container sizes) that a pub company can stock and distribute efficiently to its tied outlets. (25) In the case of a non-brewing pub company, given the current market structure at the retail level, the duration of the IPCL and Spring standard leases is irrelevant for the assessment of whether they contribute significantly to foreclosure, when the "upstream" beer supply structure is open.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), Β© European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
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