In 19.07.2021 the Commission has decided to close its investigation into the agreements used by booking system providers Amadeus and Sabre with airlines and travel agents28. In November 2018 the Commission had started an investigation “due to concerns that terms in Amadeus’ and Sabre’s agreements with airlines and travel agents for the distribution of airline tickets might breach EU competition rules which prohibit agreements between companies that prevent, restrict or distort competition within the EU (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU))”. The Commission expressly mentioned that “the conclusion that the evidence collected is not sufficiently conclusive to justify pursuing the investigation further” and also that such a closure “is not a finding that the agreements in question comply with the EU competition rules”. Moreover, “will continue to monitor developments in the airline ticket distribution sector”29. Even though none of them concerns any decisions by associations of undertakings, it is nonetheless important to note that also these are under the competition enforcers’ radars and may include conducts such as “recommendations” of prices or other commercial conditions which may unduly restrict competition. Within its competence to advocate compliance with competition rules and “to alert business associations — and their respective directors, supervisory bodies, and members — to possible law infractions”, the Portuguese Competition Authority (“PCA”) 30 has published a Guide for Business Associations in 2016 31. into contracts with tour operators that restricted active and passive sales for hotel accommodation. More specifically, Meliá’s standard terms and conditions for contracts with tour operators contained a clause according to which those contracts were valid only for reservations of consumers who were resident in specified countries. These agreements may have partitioned the European Single Market by restricting the ability of the tour operators to sell freely the hotel accommodation in all EEA countries and to respond to direct requests from consumers who were residents outside the defined countries. As a result, consumers were not able to see the full hotel availability or book hotel rooms at the best prices with tour operators in other Member States. […] Meliá cooperated with the Commission beyond its legal obligation to do so. It expressly acknowledged the facts and the infringement of EU competition rules and cooperated on the provision of evidence. Therefore, the Commission granted Meliá a 30% fine reduction in return for this cooperation”. 28 Press release available here: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/mex_21_3785. For more information, please consult the public case register under the case number AT.40617 Airline ticket distribution (Amadeus) and AT.40618 Airline ticket distribution (Sabre). 29 See the press release mentioned above in note 28. In this context, by then the Commission also referred that “In parallel, the Commission is currently reviewing the Regulation which governs the relationship between airlines, booking system providers and travel agents (Regulation (EC) No 80/2009 on a Code of Conduct for computerised reservation systems). The Commission is conducting an impact assessment to examine the full range of policy options and their potential implications”. 30 The PCA was created in 2003 and is an independent administrative entity. See the PCA’s Statutes in annex to Decree-Law Nr. 125/2014, of 18 August, as amended, besides the CA. 31 The Guide is available in Portuguese at https://www.concorrencia.pt/sites/default/files/2021-06/Guia%20 para%20Associac%CC%A7o%CC%83es%20de%20Empresas_AdC.pdf. 134 MARGARIDA ROSADO DA FONSECA
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