Vol. 435 No. 1
108 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he has satisfied himself with the operation of exemptions under the Competition Act, 1990; and his views on the fact that some businesses are having to undertake unnecessary expense in presenting files to the Competition Authority that might be handled more effectively through block exemption.
The system of licences and certificates under the Competition Act, 1991 is based on the EC model under Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty of Rome. I am satisfied that our system is working well.
The Deputy may wish to be aware that, with the approach of the deadline of 30 September 1992 for the notification of existing agreements, the Competition Authority waived the requirement that the Annex to Form CA (containing the information supporting the request for a certificate or licence) be submitted with each notification. Of the nearly 1,050 notifications received at that time, over 900 did not submit an annex. All that they submitted was a completed form (2 page) and a copy of the relevant agreement. Of that 900, only 35 to 40 have since submitted a completed Annex.
It is only when the Authority is examining individual notifications that it requests information from the notifying parties. No party has been requested to present files to the Authority. Parties have been requested to submit specific information only. This process, to date, has probably involved 35 parties. A further 25 parties, whose notifications are currently being examined, may also be requested to furnish additional information.
