No L 236/30 Official Journal of the Eu_rdpean Communities 22. 8. 86 M (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 14 July 1986 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/30.320 — op‘tical fibres) (Only the English and German texts are authentic) ; (86/405/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, | Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, 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 the Act of Accession ~of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 4, 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the applications for negative clearance and notifications by Corning Glass Works of New York and some of its affiliated companies (hereinafter referred to as ‘Corning’) on the one hagnd and several European companies on the other hand of joint venture agreements and related patent licence agreements, as amended, concerning mainly the manufacture and sale of optical fibres and optical cables, Having regard'to the summary of the applications. and notifications published () pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17, After consulting the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas : () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. (3 OJ No C 206, 16. 8. 1985, p. 3. (1) 2 ¢ THE FACTS A. The procedure The agreements relating to the United Kingdom of 1981 listed in Annex 1 were notified to the Commission on 17 March 1981. The German agreements of 1973 and 1978 listed in the same Annex and agreements relating to a joint venture in France were notified to the Commission on 24 June 1983. The parties have applied for negative clearance pursuant to Article 2 of Regulation No 17 or, failing that, for exemption pursuant to Article 85 (3). ' On 6 July 1983, the Commission initiated a proceeding under Article 3 (1) of Regulation No 17 with a view to establishing the possible existence of an infringement of Article 85 (1). The Commission sent a statement of objections to all the parties concerned considering in particular that Corning’s participation in the operation of three joint ventures  having the same business activity and located in three Member States was such that it could have led to a market allocation between the three joint ventures by extensive coordination of output, sales and pricing decisions and by exchange of sensitive competitive information. The Commis- sion further objected to certain specific provisions contained in the notified agreements.