Resale Price Maintenance in EU Competition Law: Understanding the Significance of Super Bock

The Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling in Super Bock is a significant development in EU competition law. The judgment marked the end of the Court’s sui generis approach to resale price maintenance. Whether or not this practice amounts to a restriction of competition by object is now evaluated in light of the same factors against which the legality of the rest of practices is assessed (namely the content of the agreement, its objective aims and the economic and legal context of which it is a part). Accordingly, it is conceivable that, at least in some scenarios, resale price maintenance does not have, as its object, the restriction of competition. It remains to be seen whether the potential for change will be reflected in subsequent developments.