Europe Moves to Liberalize Supply of AM Auto Parts

Sales of aftermarket (AM) replacement auto parts in Europe are expected to increase following the removal of another impediment to free competition there.

The International Federation of Automotive Aftermarket Distributors (FIGIEFA) reports that the European Parliament voted, by an overwhelming majority, to approve a Repairs Clause which strikes an equitable balance between the protection of intellectual property rights and the need for free competition. The new provision protects 260 million vehicle owners in the European Union from the abuses of a parts and repair monopoly, according to the FIGIEFA.

Louis Shakinovsky, chairman of the European Campaign for the Freedom of the Automotive Parts and Repair Market (ECAR), welcomed the move, for which his organization has strived for more than 16 years. “The European Parliament's vote,” he said, “sends out a strong signal to the Council of Ministers to join in and adopt a solution that Europe so urgently needs and that has been so long awaited.”

ECAR's main objective is to promote free competition and prevent vehicle makers from monopolizing the vehicle spare parts market by invoking (abusing, ECAR says) design protection.

As a concession to the car industry, the European Parliament decided to grant a transition period of five years in the implementation of the Repairs Clause in EU countries that still provide design protection for spare parts. This concession leaves Shakinovsky unhappy. “There is no good reason for that,” he lamented, “because it would give vehicle makers an opportunity to litigate competition to death during this interim phase in countries which have not yet adopted the Repairs Clause. This may make the Repairs Clause ineffective in practice in those countries when it eventually comes into force.”

In response, ECAR has asked the EU Council of Ministers—above all, those from member states that still oppose the Repairs Clause—to harmonize European law by adopting the clause with no further delay.