Regulation issued by the Commission or by the Council pursuant to Article 101(3) of the EC Treaty, specifying the conditions under which certain types of agreements are exempted from the prohibition on restrictive agreements laid down in Article 101(1) of the EC Treaty. When an agreement fulfils the conditions set out in a block exemp- tion regulation, individual notification of that agreement is not neces- sary: the agreement is automatically valid and enforceable. Block exemption regulations exist, for instance, for vertical agreements, R & D agreements, specialisation agreements, technology transfer agreements and car distribution agreements.
Source: Glossary of terms used in EU competition policy, Antitrust and control of concentrations, European Commission, 2002