23.2.2001 Official Journal of the European Communities L 541 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 5 July 2000 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP.F.1/36.516 — Nathan-Bricolux) (notified under document number C(2000) 1853) (Only the French text is authentic) (2001/135/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com- munity, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, first Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1216/1999 (3), and in particular Articles 3 and 15(2) thereof, Having regard to the Commission decision of 26 June 1998 to initiate proceedings in this case, Having given the parties concerned the opportunity to make known their views on the objections raised by the Commission, in accordance with Article 19(1) of Regulation No 17 and Commission Regulation No 99/63/EEC of 25 July 1963 on the hearings provided for in Article 19(1) and (2) of Regulation No 17 (3), After consulting the Advisory Committee on restrictive prac- tices and dominant positions, Whereas: () 0] 13,21.2.1962, p. 204/62. (2) 0] 148, 15.6.1999, p. 5. () 0] 127,20.8.1963, p. 2268/63. I. THE FACTS A. INTRODUCTION By letter of 21 April 1997, the French authorities informed the Commission that in the course of investi- gations carried out in France into the distribution of educational material, they had come across anti- competitive agreements concerning several Member States. By letter of 7 July 1997 those authorities sent the Commission the documents collected during their investigations. The Commission asked two competing French producers of educational material and their distributors in several Member States to provide information on their commer- cial relations, pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation No 17. These proceedings concern the agreements concluded between Editions Nathan and its exclusive distributors, Bricolux SA in the Walloon region of Belgium, Smartkids in Sweden and Borgione Centro Didattico in Italy.