The understanding was intended to ensure that the German system
named “Sammelrevers” does not lead to an infringement of EU
competition rules or any appreciable effects on trade between
member states. The statement outlines two preliminary findings of
the Commission resulting from inspections carried out in August
2000.
According to the statement, the first finding is that:
“contrary to the… understanding, direct
cross-border sales of books to final consumers via the internet at
a price other than the fixed price for Germany have been
systematically regarded as a circumvention of the system.”
The Commission sees this as a threat to trade between member
states, since it prevents sales of German books on-line at
competitive prices, even where the retailer is based in another
member state. This leads to the second finding that:
“...the refusals by certain German
publishers and book-wholesalers to supply internet booksellers
established outside of Germany to prevent direct cross-border sales
of books to consumers at a price other than the fixed price for
Germany were based on illegal collusion...”
The Commission concludes that these restrictive practices limit
the scope for consumers to enjoy the benefits of on-line book
sales.
