Backhaus, Jurgen G.; Hansen, Reginald --- "Resale price maintenance for books in Germany and the European Union: A Legal and economic analysis" [2003] ELECD 68; in Marciano, Alain; Josselin, Jean-Michel (eds), "From Economic to Legal Competition" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2003)

Book Title: From Economic to Legal Competition

Editor(s): Marciano, Alain; Josselin, Jean-Michel

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843760061

Section: Chapter 4

Section Title: Resale price maintenance for books in Germany and the European Union: A Legal and economic analysis

Author(s): Backhaus, Jurgen G.; Hansen, Reginald

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

4. Resale price maintenance for books
in Germany and the European Union:
A legal and economic analysis
Jürgen G. Backhaus and Reginald Hansen

INTRODUCTION
`I fail to see how a regime that keeps book prices higher than they need to be
promotes culture.' EU Commissioner designate Mario Monti

List prices and end price maintenance agreements between producers and
vendors are not uncommon in some industries. Typically, such agreements
occur when a brand name needs to be protected by specific services for main-
tenance of the product, by large stocks of materials necessary for the use of the
products or if particularly high skills are required for the service to the
customer in relation to the product. While, for instance, in the United States it
is not uncommon for booksellers to discount149, in the German language area
there has traditionally been a book price maintenance binding the booksellers
not to discount (except under very specific conditions). Since Germany as a
cultural entity extends over several sovereign states of which two are members
of the European Union, an issue of cross-border traffic arises (between the
Federal Republics of Austria and Germany), and a suit had been brought by
the Austrian book chain `Libro-Amadeus' which signalled that it would settle
its suit in exchange for 100 German railroad station book stores.150 During the
very last meeting of the European Commission under its president Jacques
Santer, the Belgian Commissioner for Competition, Karel van Miert, had

149 The arrival of the ...