§3.3.1.3 Barriers and costs associated with supplying customers in different areas

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION Commission Notice on the definition of the relevant market for the purposes of Union competition law · European Union

70. The Commission assesses whether suppliers are able and willing to offer their products on competitive terms throughout the candidate market, or whether there are barriers or costs that make it impossible or unattractive for a supplier to serve customers on competitive terms in areas that it does not currently serve. This assessment includes an examination of whether customer preferences require suppliers to have a local presence or access to a distribution network or relevant distribution channels to sell throughout the candidate market. It also includes an examination of the regulatory framework, namely any type of barrier created by state action that may affect suppliers from other areas. Such barriers may include public procurement rules, public subsidies, price regulation, quotas and tariffs limiting trade or production, technical standards, linguistic requirements, legal monopolies, limits to freedom of establishment, administrative authorisation requirements (for instance licences and permits), or other sector-specific regulation. Such barriers can effectively limit the degree to which suppliers in a certain area are subject to competitive pressure from suppliers based outside that area and thus lead to differences in the conditions of competition. The same barriers can also hinder customers from purchasing from suppliers in different areas. 71. Conversely, the regulatory framework, in particular regulatory harmonisation, for instance at the level of the Union or globally, may reduce barriers to trade and indicate that geographic markets are wider or likely to become so in the future. The Commission takes into account the process of market integration when defining geographic markets. Where regulatory barriers are removed, the Commission assesses relevant evidence indicating a structural market transition, for instance regarding prices, market shares or trade patterns.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07