§ Mr. Harold Walkerasked the Minister for Trade (1) if the regulation proposed by the Commission of the European Economic Community to replace regulation 67/67/EEC will remove any tie between brewers and tenants of public houses regarding amusement with prize machines and video machines;
785W(2) if it will be valid for a brewery to require a tenant to enter into a contractual arrangement to buy wines and spirits and goods other than ale, beer or porter from that brewery in advance of the regulation proposed by the Commission of the European Economic Community to replace regulation 67/67/EEC; or if such a requirement will be valid after the introduction of the new regulation;
(3) if he will bring to the attention of the European Commission the fact that some breweries have redrawn their tenancy agreements to require tenants to continue purchasing wines and spirits from the landlord brewery notwithstanding the terms of draft proposals from the Commission of the European Economic Community.
§ Dr. VaughanThe present draft of the Commission's proposed regulation on block exemption for exclusive purchasing agreements in the brewing industry allows for a transitional period of five years during which exemption will be maintained for agreements in force on 1 January 1983 that satisfy the criteria of regulation 67/67/EEC.
As I stated in my earlier reply of 7 July one condition of exemption under the Commission's new proposals would be that any obligation to purchase exclusively from the brewer must relate solely to beer. It remains open to parties to agreements that do not meet the conditions of the present or proposed block exemption to notify agreements to the Commission for individual exemption under article 85(3) of the Treaty of Rome. There is no requirement for parties to enter into agreements which conform with the proposed regulation in advance of the regulation coming into effect.