This report reviews the treatment of specialisation agreements under EU competition rules, exploring if and how these rules hinder procompetitive cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”), either among them or with larger undertakings.
The report identifies potential regulatory inconsistencies which may adversely affect SMEs and highlights the need for a clear and predictable treatment of horizontal cooperation for these undertakings.
The authors propose alternatives to facilitate that SMEs enjoy the benefits of the Specialisation Block Exemption Regulation and the Horizontal Guidelines while at the same time protecting competition.

Note
The information and views set out in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the Commission. The Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this study. Neither the Commission nor any person acting on the Commission’s behalf may be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Authors
• Marcos Araujo
• Tomás Arranz
• Rafael Baena
• Pablo Figueroa
• Joaquín Hervada
• Belén Irissarry