Noerr represents Peugeot and PSA Automobiles in preliminary ruling proceedings before European Court of Justice

Under the leadership of Dominik Wendel our firm is representing PEUGEOT SA and PSA Automobiles SA in preliminary ruling proceedings before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxemburg.

The proceedings centre around the automobile industry and the issue of whether and at what cost independent operators have a right to claim access to motor vehicle manufacturers’ repair and maintenance information (RMI).

RMI is important for the repair and maintenance of modern vehicles and is generated by vehicle manufacturers at their own expense.

The EU Type Approval Regulation, which entered into effect in 2018, includes special provisions on access to this RMI for “independent operators”.

Many clauses in this regulation are not clearly worded. These ambiguities pose strategic and costly challenges for automobile manufacturers, such as how exactly RMI infrastructure must be configured to comply with the regulation’s requirements.

The European Independent Automotive Data Publishers Association (ADPA) and the Gesamtverband Autoteile-Handel e.V. are currently litigating before Cologne Regional Court as claimants against PEUGEOT SA and PSA Automobiles SA as defendants regarding the category and scope of the legal provisions on access to RMI.

The court identified several ambiguities in the Type Approval Regulation and requested a preliminary ruling from the ECJ on the fundamental issues (case no. C-390/21).

These issues deal with the scope of applicability of the Type Approval Regulation and the assessment criteria for access and licensing fees that vehicle manufacturers can charge publishers of technical information to exploit RMI (Art. 63 Type Approval Regulation).

The publishers are demanding that vehicle manufacturers only be permitted to charge access fees high enough to cover their costs. This would ultimately be tantamount to a complete devaluation of the RMI generated by the vehicle manufacturers.

Because the significance of data is growing in the entire motor vehicle industry – for example in regard to connected cars – these proceedings are ground-breaking.

Advisors to Peugeot/PSA: Noerr Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB

Lead
Dominik Wendel (partner, Automotive & New Mobility, Brussels)

Antitrust & Competition
Fabian Hübener (associated partner, Brussels)

Automotive & New Mobility
Benedikt Lutz (senior associate, Brussels)