L 186/28 Official Journal of the European Communities 19.7.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 16 June 1999 relating to a proceeding pursuant to Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case 1V[35.992[F3 — Scottish and Newcastle) (notified under document number C(1999) 1474) (Only the English text is authentic) (1999/474/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (1), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Articles 4, 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the application for negative clearance and the notification for exemption submitted on 25 April 1996 by Scottish and Newcastle plc pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation No 17, Having published a summary of the application and notification pursuant to Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17 (%), After consultation with the Advisory Committee for Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: I. THE FACTS A. INTRODUCTION (1) In February 1995, the Office of Fair Trading (hereinafter: ‘OFT’) started, at the request of the Commission, an enquiry into the UK brewers' wholesale pricing policy. This enquiry, which also covered Scottish and Newecastle plc (hereinafter: ‘S&N’), resulted in the internal OFT report on their ‘enquiry into brewers' wholesale pricing policy’ (hereinafter: the ‘OFT report) being adopted in May 1995; a press release on the report was issued by the OFT on 16 May 1995. () 0] 13, 21.2.1962, p. 204/62. 3 0J C8, 13.1.1998, p. 4. (2) On 25 April 1996 S&N notified eight standard forms of leases (hereinafter: ‘the leases)), the subject of each of the leases being a fully fitted-out, on-licensed (°) public house in the United Kingdom with a tie for beer as described below. The eight standard forms can be put into three groups: the ‘English leases’ consisting of the S&N standard England and Wales November 1993 lease (E&W November lease’), the S&N Standard England and Wales 1993 lease, as amended by a letter of variation, and the Matthew Brown lease; the ‘Scottish leases’ consisting of the S&N standard Scottish November 1993 lease, the Scottish E-type lease and the Scottish S-type lease, as amended by letter of variation; and finally, the ‘short-term leases’ which include a temporary lease and a tenancy-at-will agreement. S&N requested negative clearance or confirmation that the leases could benefit from the application of Commission Regulation (EEC) No 198483 of 22 June 1983 on the application of Article 85(3) of the Treaty to categories of exclusive purchasing agreements (*) (hereinafter: ‘the Regulation’), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1582/97 (%), or individual exemption pursuant to Article 81(3) of the EC Treaty to take effect as from the date on which the agreements were entered into. (3) The information in the notification has been supplemented by way of a verification pursuant to Article 14(2) of Regulation No 17 at the premises of S&N, and by several requests for information. (4) Following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities of the notice pursuant to Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17 (hereinafter: ‘the notice’), in which the Commission announced its intention to grant a retroactive exemption pursuant to Article 81(3), the Commission received observations from interested third parties. 21 observations by current and former tenants were provided on a model designed by the Scottish Licensed Trade Consultants (‘the SLTC model); two (®) On-licensed premises are those which are licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on and off the premises as opposed to off-licensed premises such as supermarkets which are licensed for off-premises consumption only. () OJ L 173, 30.6.1983, p. 5. () O] L 214, 6.8.1997, p. 27.