5th T.R.A.D.E. Annual Conference //  9th Antitrust Annual Conference

How to set up and/or restructure distribution systems in compliance with antitrust law? The new Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) will enter into force on 1 June 2022. The existing VBER grants a safe harbour to suppliers and their customers, allowing them to assess and safely handle vertical agreements by exempting groups of agreements from the general ban of anticompetitive agreements. The VBER’s revision is – to quote the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager: “…an important policy project. Vertical agreements, such as those between suppliers of goods or services and their distributors, are common across all sectors of the EU economy.”

The EU giving effect to new rules on sales – offline and online – provides THE occasion for the Antitrust and the T.R.A.D.E. Commission to exchange and elaborate on the best practice, coming from different angles, but with the same object: assisting companies which operate cross-border. Together with the Healthcare Commission, we will focus in particular on the impact of the new regulation on the distribution of medical devices and pharmaceuticals, where regulatory requirements often caused difficulties under the 2010 VBER.

Besides the VBER, we will discuss how to manage distribution systems which go (entirely or partially) beyond the EU and address the effects of the increasing vertical integration on the competitive landscape. Considering Bologna's status as both a gastronomic capital and mecca of luxury sports cars & motorbike brands, we will also have a closer look at distribution and antitrust related aspects in the food products and automotive markets.

Please register here: https://www.aija.org/en/event-detail/648 

Sponsored by Taylor Wessing. 
Organized by AIJA – International Association of Young Lawyers

Organizing Committee: 
Renato BUCHER
MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep AG (SWITZERLAND)
Giorgia CARANDENTE
Taylor Wessing Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB (GERMANY)
Marie DAVY
KRAMER LEVIN (FRANCE)
Bruno DE ZÊZERE BARRADAS
Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira SLP (PORTUGAL)
Giorgia MASSARO
Avv. Giorgia Massaro - LegLegal (ITALY)
Alessandro PACI
RP Legal & Tax Associazione Professionale (ITALY)
Michel SEGERS
FLINN.LAW SCRL (BELGIUM)