Policy field
Competition: Antitrust
Background
Art. 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“the Treaty”) prohibits agreements between undertakings that restrict competition, unless they contribute to improving the production or distribution of goods or services or to promoting technical or economic progress while allowing consumers a fair share of the resulting benefits, in accordance with Art. 101(3) of the Treaty.
Technology transfer agreements are agreements by which one party authorises another to use certain industrial property rights (e.g. patents, design rights, software copyrights) or know-how for the production of goods or services. In many cases, such agreements either do not restrict competition, i.e. they fall outside the scope of Article 101(1) of the Treaty, or they create objective efficiencies that are passed on to consumers and meet the conditions of Article 101(3) of the Treaty. However, technology transfer agreements, or certain clauses within such agreements, can also have negative effects on competition. In particular, they may facilitate collusion, restrict the ability of competitors to enter the market or to expand, or they may harm inter- or intra-technology competition, for example by reducing the incentives to innovate.
Council Regulation No 19/65/EEC empowers the Commission to apply Article 101(3) of the Treaty, by means of a regulation, to certain categories of technology transfer agreements. The Commission used this empowerment to adopt Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2014 on the application of Article 101(3) of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements (‘TTBER’), which will expire on 30 April 2026.
The Commission also provided guidance on the assessment of technology transfer agreements in the related Commission Communication - Guidelines on the application of Article 101 of the Treaty to technology transfer agreements (‘Technology Transfer Guidelines’).
The purpose of the review is to gather evidence on the functioning of the TTBER and the Technology Transfer Guidelines, in order to help the Commission to decide whether to let that TTBER expire, or to extend it, with or without amendments.
Reference documents
The TTBER and the Technology Transfer Guidelines are available here.
Target group of the review
All citizens and organisations are welcome to contribute to the review.
Contributions are particularly sought from companies with business operations in the EU which hold industrial property rights and/or enter into technology transfer agreements with other companies. The review process is also likely to interest law firms and economic consultancy firms that advise such companies on competition-related issues. Other stakeholders with a possible interest include academics specialising in EU competition law and industrial property rights.
The experience gathered by the competition authorities and the courts of the EU Member States in applying the TTBER will also be relevant for this review.
The phases of the review
In accordance with the Commission’s Better Regulation principles, the review is divided into two phases: (i) an evaluation phase and (ii) an impact assessment phase.
A. Evaluation phase
The objective of the evaluation phase was to gather evidence on the functioning of the TTBER and the Technology Transfer Guidelines. In line with the Better Regulation principles, the evaluation was based on five evaluation criteria: effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value.
The main consultations carried out for the evaluation were published on the dedicated webpage of the “Have Your Say” portal.
1. Call for Evidence
A Call for Evidence was published on 25 November 2022. The deadline for stakeholders to provide feedback was 23 December 2022.
12 stakeholders provided feedback and their responses are published on the Have Your Say portal.
2. Results of the public consultation
A public consultation was launched on 17 April 2023. The deadline for stakeholders to reply to the questionnaire was 24 July 2023.
- 20 respondents replied to the questionnaire and their replies are available on the Have Your Say portal.
- 2 other stakeholders also responded to the public consultation but not via the Have Your Say portal. Click here to access their submissions.
Click here to access the factual summary of the contributions received in response to the public consultation.
3. Stakeholder workshop
An online stakeholder workshop was held on 6 December 2023. The workshop focused on areas of the TTBER and Technology Transfer Guidelines that attracted the most comments in the call for evidence and public consultation.
Click here to access the summary of the stakeholder workshop.
4. Evaluation support study
An evaluation support study was carried out by a consortium consisting of LE Europe, European University Institute, Spark Legal and Ramboll Management Consulting.
Click here to access the support study report (including executive summaries in DE and FR).
5. Staff Working Document
A Commission Staff Working Document summarising the results of the evaluation of the TTBER and Technology Transfer Guidelines was published on 22 November 2024. An Executive Summary is available in DE, EN and FR.
B. Impact Assessment phase
1. Call for evidence and public consultation
A Call for evidence and public consultation were held between 31 January and 25 April 2025.
- Access the replies to the Call for Evidence on Have Your Say portal
- Access the replies to the public consultation on Have Your Say portal
- Access the submissions received from 5 other stakeholders outside Have Your Say portal
Click here to access the factual summary of the contributions received in response to the public consultation.
2. Expert study
An expert study on data licensing was prepared by Professor Peter Georg Picht of the University of Zürich.
3. Public consultation on the draft revised TTBER and Guidelines
A public consultation was launched on 11 September 2025. The deadline for stakeholders to provide feedback is 23 October 2025.
4. Reality Check
DG Competition will hold a “Reality Check” in the form of an online workshop to discuss with stakeholders some of the key proposed changes to the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER) and its accompanying Guidelines.
In particular, the Reality Check will cover (i) the proposed changes to the rules in the area of technology pools, (ii) the proposed new guidance on licensing negotiation groups, and (iii) the proposed new guidance on the competition law assessment of certain types of data licensing.
The objective of the workshop is to gather more detailed, practical input on how such proposed changes may operate in real-life situations and how they might affect business incentives and practices. This will help ensure that the revised rules are well targeted and effective in delivering their intended benefits.
The reality check will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, 12 November 2025.
Stakeholders with knowledge or experience in applying the TTBER and the Guidelines who wish to participate are invited to complete the registration form.
Registrations will be open until Wednesday, 5 November 2025. DG Competition aims to ensure a balanced representation of stakeholder categories but may limit the number of participants to ensure a productive workshop. Registrations are limited to one participant per organisation.
An agenda and further practical details will be sent to registered participants before the reality check.
For any questions, please contact the TTBER review team at:
COMP-TTBER-REVIEW
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-TTBER-REVIEW[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Contact details
Responsible services:
Directorate-General for Competition – Unit A.1 - Antitrust Case Support and Policy.
Please always indicate the reference number in your correspondence: HT.6464
E-Mail address: COMP-TTBER-REVIEWec [dot] europa [dot] eu (COMP-TTBER-REVIEW[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)
Postal address:
European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Place Madou/Madouplein 1
1210 Bruxelles/Brussel
Belgium