Policy field
Competition: Antitrust
Target group
All citizens, organisations and public authorities are welcome to contribute to this consultation.
Period of consultation
From 1 March 2022 to 26 April 2022
Objective of the consultation
On 1 March 2022, the Commission published drafts of the revised R&D and Specialisation Block Exemption Regulations (together ‘HBERs’) and Horizontal Guidelines for stakeholder comments. Through the consultation, the Commission aims to gather stakeholder feedback on the changes it proposes to address the issues identified in the evaluation of the current rules. The evaluation showed that the HBERs, together with the Horizontal Guidelines, are useful instruments and remain relevant for stakeholders. The evaluation, however, identified areas for possible improvement in terms of effectiveness, relevance and coherence. The evaluation also identified a number of areas where the texts of the HBERs and Horizontal Guidelines are considered insufficiently clear, overly strict or otherwise difficult to interpret. Since the launch of the impact assessment in June 2021, the Commission has gathered further evidence on possible changes to the current rule. This evidence has been taken into account in the drafting of the revised HBERs and Horizontal Guidelines.
How to submit your contribution
We welcome contributions from citizens, organisations and public authorities.
- If you are answering this consultation as a citizen, please click COMP-HBERs-REVIEW
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: HT.5454_Reply_from_a_citizen) (here) to submit your contribution. - If you are answering this consultation on behalf of an organisation, please click COMP-HBERs-REVIEWec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: HT.5454_Reply_from_a_company_or_business_association) (here) to submit your contribution.
- If you are answering this consultation on behalf of a public authority, please click COMP-HBERs-REVIEWec [dot] europa [dot] eu (subject: HT.5454_Reply_from_a_public_authority) (here) to submit your contribution.
Received contributions will be published on this webpage. Only submissions that are clearly marked "CONFIDENTIAL" (in English, in capital letters) will be treated as such and not published. In that case please also provide a non-confidential version of your reply. It is important to read the privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be dealt with.
We would appreciate receiving submissions electronically, as attachments to emails in .docx or .pdf format, otherwise they will not be published.
Please note that we cannot guarantee to take account of replies received after the deadline.
The contributions submitted in the context of this public consultation, as well as a summary of these contributions, are published here.
It is important to read the privacy statement attached to this consultation for information on how your personal data and contribution will be dealt with.
View the consultation document
Please note that the consultation will be launched based on the English version of the texts. The translations in other EU languages will be available soon.
- Draft revised R&D Block Exemption Regulation – available in all EU languages
- Draft revised Specialisation Block Exemption Regulation – available in all EU languages
- Draft revised Horizontal Guidelines – available in all EU languages
Reference documents and other, related consultations
- Background note accompanying the public consultation of the draft revised HBERs and Horizontal Guidelines – available in all EU languages
- Press Release
Contributions to the consultation on the draft revised texts
The non-confidential replies to the consultation are available here.
Contact details
Responsible service:
Directorate-General for Competition – Unit A1
Please always indicate the reference number in your correspondence: HT.5454
e-mail: COMP-HBERs-REVIEWec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-HBERs-REVIEW[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Postal address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition – Unit A1
Antitrust Registry
1049 Bruxelles /Brussel
Belgique /België
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