25 February 2008: Commitments of NMPP before the Conseil de la concurrence

grossistes-dépositaires de presse

Wholesale press agents will have access to Presse 2000 system
for all newspapers, including those distributed by MLP

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Presse 2000 computer system has been created and set up by NMMP at wholesale press agents in order to handle information relative to their activity for all newspapers irrespective of the distributor.
In its referral to the Conseil, Messageries Lyonnaise de Presse (MLP) argued that, as long as Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne (NMPP) would refuse to grant direct automated access to Presse 2000 system, wholesale press agents were forced to recapture manually the information given by the MLP's own computer system. Newspapers which chose MLP as distributors seemed to be penalized by a system of lesser quality compared with the one of NMPP.

Competition concerns

In its preliminary assessment of competition concerns, which are the first stage of a commitment procedure, the Conseil de la concurrence pointed out, when it was launched in 1992-1993, that Presse 2000 system had been presented as a common initiative from distributors and press agents, allowing them to manage all newspapers at the same level of competition. However, the refusal by NMPP to grant MLP direct access to the system may lead to capturing errors and disruptions and a discriminatory management of the newspapers concerned. The Conseil has also stressed the fact that, given the efficiency problems encountered by newspaper distribution per issue, the setting up by MLP of their own system at press agents could not be conceived.

The commitments proposed by NMPP : the setting up of a direct automated access to Presse 2000 in favour of MLP

In order to meet the competition concerns expressed by the Conseil, the NMPP committed themselves to allow the direct injection of information relative to the newspapers distributed by MLP in the Presse 2000 system. The Conseil has considered that these commitments are likely to remove the competition distortion which penalized MLP.

However, prior to accepting the commitments and closing the procedure, the Conseil ordered NMPP to improve the conditions offered to MLP in setting up of the access, to make sure that they do not entail technical nor financial impediments.

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