EU competition rules – revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation

Please note that the European Commission published an Inception impact assessment for the Revision of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation VBER) and the Vertical Guidelines. In its current form, the VBER allows OTAs to apply parity clauses on hoteliers.

Summary of the initiative 

The Vertical Block Exemption Regulation expires on 31 May 2022. The Regulation exempts agreements between different levels of the same supply chain from the EU's competition rules.

In a business environment reshaped notably by the growth of e-commerce, this initiative aims to revise the rules to:

• provide up-to-date guidance
• cater for business needs in accordance with competition rules.

The aim is to have revised rules in place for when the current rules expire. Please note it is possible to provide feedback on the roadmap by November 20 2020.  A public consultation on the matter is to follow (Q4 2020). 

HOTREC will submit the following document on 20 November as feedback to the European Commission roadmap: .