Opinion of Advocate General Lenz delivered on 21 April 1994

1 Original language: German.

2 Peugeot v Commission [1993] ECR II-493.

3 OJ 1992 L 66, p. 1.

4 OJ 1985 L 15, p. 16.

5 Case T-23/90 Peugeot v Commission [1991] ECR II-653.

6 OJ 1985 C 17, p. 4.

7 Cf. judgment in Case T-23/90, cited above, (note 4), paragraph 48.

8 OJ 1991 C 329, p. 20.

9 Paragraph 71 of the contested judgment.

10 As held earlier in the judgment in Case T-23/90, cited above (footnote 4), paragraph 33.

11 The appellants state there that it is not disputed that the mere performance of an agency contract on a professional basis is not an activity equivalent to that of a reseller; that latter activity must, rather, first be defined.

12 With regard to those advantages, cf. the fourth recital in the preamble to Regulation No 123/85.

13 Cf. the press release of the Commission of 1 July 1993 concerning motor vehicle prices in the EC (IP (93) 545).

14 Case 243/83 [1985] ECR 2015.

15 Cf. in particular the judgment in Case 311/85 Vlaamse Reisbureaus [1987] ECR 3801, paragraph 20.

16 Judgment in Joined Cases 40/73 to 48/73, 50/73, 54/73 to 56/73, 111/73, 113/73 and 114/73 Suiker Unie and Others v Commission [1975] ECR 1663, paragraph 542; judgment in Case 311/85 Vlaamse Reisbureaus, cited above (footnote 14), paragraph 20.

17 Paragraphs 52 and 54 of the contested judgment; cf. in that regard point 26 above.

18 Paragraph 53 of the contested judgment; cf. point 26 above.

19 Cf. paragraph 29 of the contested judgment.

20 On page 16 of the appeal it is stated that the appraisal of the concept of activity equivalent to that of a reseller is one of an exclusively economic nature, which is a matter for the owner of the distribution network (une appréciation dépendant exclusivement du contexte économique et qui reste à l'appréciation du propriétaire du réseau).