Article 5

Application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty Objections 1. Undertakings and associations of takings which wish to seek application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty in respect of agreements, decisions and concerted practices falling within the provisions of paragraph 1 of the said Article to which they are parties shall submit applications to the Commission. 2. If the Commission judges an application admissible and is in possession of all the available evidence and no action under article 3 has been taken against the agreement, decision or concerted practice in question, then it shall publish as soon as possible in the Official Journal of the European Communities a summary of the application and invite all interested third parties and the Member States to submit their comments to the Commission within 30 days. Such publications shall have regard to the legitimate interest of undertakings in the protection of their business secrets. 3. Unless the Commission notifies applicants, within 90 days of the date of such publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities, that there are serious doubts as to the applicability of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty, the agreement, decision or concerted practice shall be deemed exempt, in so far as it conforms with the description given in the application, from the prohibition for the time already elapsed and for a maximum of six years from the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities. If the Commission finds, after expiry of the 90-day time limit, but before expiry of the six-year period, that the conditions for applying Article 85 (3) of the Treaty are not satisfied, it shall issue a decision declaring that the prohibition in Article 85 (1) applies. Such decision may be retroactive where the parties concerned have given inaccurate information or where they abuse an exemption from the provisions of Article 85 (1) or have contravened Article 86. 4. The Commission may notify applicants as referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 3; it shall do so if requested by a Member State within 45 days of the forwarding to the Member State of the application in accordance with Article 8 (2). This request must be justified on the basis of considerations relating to the competition rules of the Treaty. If it finds that the conditions of Article 85 (1) and (3) of the Treaty are satisfied, the Commission shall issue a decision applying Article 85 (3). The decision shall indicate the date from which it is to take effect. This date may be prior to that of the application.

← 3. · All articles · art_5__para →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-21 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.