31. 12. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 333/37 COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 3652/93 of 22 December 1993 on the application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements between undertakings relating to computerized reservation systems for air transport services THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 3976/87 of 14 December 1987 on the application of Article 85 (3) of the Treaty to certain categories of agreements and concerted practices in the air transport sector ('), as lasta amended by Regulation (EEC) No 2411/92 (%), and in particular Article 2 thereof, Having published a draft of this Regulation (), Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Agree- ments and Dominant Positions in Air Transport, Whereas : (1)  Regulation (EEC) No 3976/87 empowers the Commission to apply Article 85 (3) of the Treaty by regulation to certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices relating directly or indirectly to the provision of air transport services. (20 Commission Regulation (EEC) No 83/91 (%), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1618/93 (%), grants a block exemption to certain agreements establishing computerized reservation systems, providing they satisfy the conditions imposed by that Regulation. The block exemption expires on 31 December 1993. (3) Agreements for the common purchase, develop- ment and operation of computerized reservation. systems relating to timetabling, reservations and ( OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1987, p. 9. OJ No L 240, 24. 8. 1992, p. 19. o No C 253, 30. 9. 1992, p. 11. (4) 0_] No L 10, 15. 1. 1991, p. 9. () OJ No L 155, 26. 6. 1993, p. 23. ticketing are liable to restrict competition and affect trade between Member States. (49  Computerized reservation systems (CRS) can render useful services to air carriers, travel agents and air travellers alike by giving ready access to up-to-date and detailed information in particular about flight possibilities, fare options and seat availability. They can also be used to make reservations and in some cases to print tickets and issue boarding passes. They thus help the air traveller to exercise choice on the basis of fuller information in order to meet his travel needs in the optimal manner. However, in order for these benefits to be obtained, flight schedules and fares displays must be as complete and unbiased as possible. (5 The CRS market is such that few individual Euro- pean undertakings could on their own make the investment and achieve the economies of scale required to compete with the more advanced exis- ting systems. Cooperation in this field should - therefore be permitted. A block exemption should therefore be granted for such cooperation. (6) In accordance with Council Regulation (EEC) No 2299/89 (%), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 3089/93 (), concerning the code of conduct for computerized reservation systems, the cooperation should not allow the parent carriers to create undue advantages for themselves and thereby distort competition. It is therefore necessary to ensure that no discrimination exists between parent carriers and participating carriers with regard in particular to access and neutrality of display. The block exemption should be subject to conditions which will ensure that all air carriers can participate in the systems on a non-discriminatory basis as regards access, display, information loading and fees. More- over, in order to maintain competition in an oligo- polistic market subscribers must be able to switch from one system to another at short notice and () OJ No L 220, 29. 7. 1989, p. 1. () OJ No L 278, 11. 11. 1993, p. 1.