I am convinced that this proposal will increase legal certainty for businesses for three reasons: by virtue of the direct effect of Article 81(3), it will permit authorisation, without a prior decision, of all restrictive competition agreements which meet the exemption conditions; it will create the opportunity to help businesses in the event of doubts over interpretation through the publication of reasoned opinions; it will be accompanied by exemption regulations and guidelines which will clarify the rules and ensure certainty.