The understanding was intended to ensure that the German system named “Sammelrevers” does not lead to an infringement of EU competition rules or any appreciable effects on trade between member states. The statement outlines two preliminary findings of the Commission resulting from inspections carried out in August 2000.
According to the statement, the first finding is that:
“contrary to the… understanding, direct cross-border sales of books to final consumers via the internet at a price other than the fixed price for Germany have been systematically regarded as a circumvention of the system.”
The Commission sees this as a threat to trade between member states, since it prevents sales of German books on-line at competitive prices, even where the retailer is based in another member state. This leads to the second finding that:
“...the refusals by certain German publishers and book-wholesalers to supply internet booksellers established outside of Germany to prevent direct cross-border sales of books to consumers at a price other than the fixed price for Germany were based on illegal collusion...”
The Commission concludes that these restrictive practices limit the scope for consumers to enjoy the benefits of on-line book sales.