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COMPETITION LAW 137
numbered 07-56/672-20914 , considered information exchanged “over a
prolonged period” as anticompetitive. Nevertheless, the duration of the
information exchange is not stated in the decision, therefore, the Board’s
interpretation on the duration of “prolonged period” is not clarified.
Importance of the Information Exchanged
As has been frequently stated in Board decisions15 , information
exchange does not constitute per se a competition violation since
information exchange does not always influence competition in a
negative way; it may even have positive effects on competition. Indeed, it
is accepted that information exchange has positive effects on competition
if it permits the parties to better organize their future investments.
However, information exchange may be anticompetitive from the
point of view of the market structure and the nature of the information
exchanged.
Influence of the Market Structure. It may be observed from Board
decisions that market structure can have a significant influence on
information exchange. The Board takes a flexible approach to information
exchange where the market is transparent, since in such a case exchanged
information may also be obtained from the market. For instance, the
Board, in its decision dated 15.04.2004 and numbered 04-26/287-65,
specified that there was low probability that the information exchanged
between the parties caused coordination since the products are uniform
and there are a lot of actors in the market16 .
Contrary to the aforementioned, the Board has an inflexible approach
to information exchange where the market is not transparent, which means
that the information exchanged between parties may not be obtained from
14 To reach the decision, see the following link:
H7deC+LxBI8=&nm=90 (accessed on: 21.03.2013).
15 For instance, see the Board decision dated 19.12.2005 and numbered 05-85/1182-336,
H7deC+LxBI8=&nm=90 (accessed on: 21.03.2013).
16 For information about the decision, see the following link:
H7deC+LxBI8=&nm=90 (accessed on: 21.03.2013).