UEIL presentation on Block exemption
At the 2009 UEIL Congress, the organisation's Jean-Philippe Monod gave his views on European competition policy and its affect on the lubricants industry. The UEIL have kindly provided OATS with a specially updated version of the presentation.
As we highlighted in OATS Bulletin 108, there are inherent conflicts of interest which hinder streamlining of the lubricants sector. This is based on the desire to protect commercially senstive relationships with OEMs while meeting the need for specification information across the industry.
This tension is particularly evident when considering the supply of lubricants in the European automotive aftermarket. Currently, warranty issues surrounding European Block exemption means that lubricants are defined as a "spare part". For some time, this has been challenged by lubricants businesses that want to avoid being locked out of the workshop supply chain.
In a clear, focused and entertaining presentation at the 2009 Congress in Istanbul, UEIL's Jean-Philippe Monod highlighted the challenges block exemption present to lubricants suppliers.
