On 1 June 2023, the European Commission adopted revised Horizontal Block Exemption Regulations ("HBERs") applicable to R&D agreements and specialisation agreements that serve as an exception to the general prohibition outlined in Article 101(1) TFEU by providing a safe harbour to qualifying R&D and specialisation agreements. The HBERs will enter into force on 1 July 2023. The revised Horizontal Guidelines complement the HBERs by providing insights on how to apply them, how to assess R&D and specialisation agreements outside the safe harbour, and various other common types of cooperation agreements (e.g. joint purchasing agreements, information sharing, or sustainability agreements). See Commission press release here.
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