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09.06.2020
The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has presented measures for overcoming the challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the automotive industry to the Bundeskartellamt. The Bundeskartellamt discussed these measures with the VDA and decided, within its scope of discretion, to refrain from examination under competition law in more detail. The authority has informed the European Commission about its talks with the VDA and its assessment of the project.
Andreas Mundt, President of the Bundeskartellamt: “We support crisis management initiatives within the framework of competition law. The automotive industry is planning a number of measures to ease the economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the complex supply chains, downtimes at individual sub-suppliers can cause even more economic harm by considerably delaying the restart of production processes at many suppliers and manufacturers. To overcome such problems in a specific sector a coordinated approach can be justified. However, such measures must comply with competition law requirements and be explicitly limited to a certain period of time.”
The measures presented by the VDA contain framework conditions for restarting automotive production and a model for restructuring suppliers.
The VDA would like to publish information on the re-opening times of automotive manufacturers and suppliers and a best practice guide explaining ways to avoid a misallocation of resources at a time when capacities are scarce.
The proposed “Corona restructuring process” is to enable a speedy restructuring process for companies, which are undergoing an economic crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic. As key elements of the process, the companies concerned will set up stakeholder groups and exchange information within and between the stakeholder groups over a limited period of time. Owners, employees, customers, creditors and public authorities would be able to exchange information on the solvency, credits, aid measures or operational problems of a company and quickly develop effective restructuring measures together.
Together with the VDA, the Bundeskartellamt has provided for some accompanying measures to ensure compliance with competition law requirements. These include in particular the following aspects:
The Bundeskartellamt assumes that the restructuring negotiations will be concluded before the end of 2021.
The VDA will keep the Bundeskartellamt informed about further developments. The Bundeskartellamt reserves the right to examine the matter in more detail in the event of complaints or other new findings.