Collaborate to Create Value: ECA IA Competition Law Principles

ECA Industry Association brings together companies with shared interests in electrolysed water technologies. The Association promotes knowledge sharing, innovation, responsible use of these technologies and the development of the industry.

Collaboration between members can create significant value for customers and society. It can combine complementary expertise, support innovation, improve local service capabilities and accelerate the adoption of safe and effective solutions.

At the same time, many ECA IA members are actual or potential competitors. All activities conducted within the Association must therefore respect European and applicable national competition laws.

The guiding principle is simple:

Collaborate to create value – not to limit competition.

Independent commercial decision-making

Each ECA IA member must determine its own commercial strategy independently. The Association must not be used as a forum for coordinating prices, customers, markets, production or other competitive conduct.

Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits agreements and concerted practices that prevent, restrict or distort competition. Cartels involving practices such as price fixing, market sharing or bid coordination are among the most serious infringements of European competition law.

Competition concerns can arise not only from formal agreements. Exchanges of commercially sensitive information between competitors may also reduce uncertainty about their intended market conduct and facilitate coordination.

Appropriate forms of collaboration

ECA IA encourages legitimate cooperation that develops the industry or creates identifiable value for customers. Depending on the circumstances, appropriate collaboration may include:

• referring a customer to a member with suitable local capabilities;

• providing installation, maintenance or service support in another country;

• combining complementary expertise for a specific customer project;

• participating in a joint pilot, demonstration or research project;

• sharing non-confidential technical experience and lessons learned;

• developing standards and good industry practices;

• cooperating on regulatory, scientific or educational initiatives;

• increasing awareness of ECA technologies and their appropriate uses;

• forming distribution, market-access or referral arrangements; and

• supporting international customers through local member capabilities.

Specific commercial partnerships may require the exchange of information necessary to carry out the agreed project. Such exchanges should be limited to what is objectively necessary and proportionate to that legitimate purpose. Appropriate agreements, confidentiality arrangements and access controls should be used where needed.

Topics members may discuss

In ECA IA meetings and activities, members may generally discuss non-confidential matters such as:

• industry trends and developments;

• common customer challenges without revealing customer-specific commercial information;

• emerging applications and use cases;

• water scarcity, sustainability and resilience challenges;

• regulatory developments;

• standards and industry guidance;

• scientific and technical developments;

• safety, efficacy and responsible use;

• publicly available market information; and

• industry-wide opportunities and risks.

Members are encouraged to share experiences and observations rather than their future commercial strategies.

Appropriate observations might include:

• “Customers are increasingly asking about water reuse.”

• “Legionella management is becoming a more prominent concern.”

• “Agricultural customers are facing growing water constraints.”

These observations can help the industry understand customer needs without disclosing how an individual member intends to compete.

Topics members must not discuss

Members must not exchange commercially sensitive information or coordinate their future competitive conduct through ECA IA.

The following topics must not be discussed in Association meetings, working groups, informal member conversations connected with Association activities or shared communication channels:

• current or future prices and pricing intentions;

• planned price increases or decreases;

• discounts, margins, costs or profitability;

• customer-specific commercial information;

• individual sales targets or forecasts;

• market-share objectives;

• allocation of customers, territories or markets;

• decisions not to compete for particular customers or in particular areas;

• bid coordination or tender strategies;

• planned production volumes or capacity restrictions; and

• any proposal for coordinated commercial action between competitors.

Examples of statements that must be avoided include:

• “We plan to increase our prices.”

• “We are targeting this particular market segment.”

• “We should all focus on the same customer group.”

• “We should avoid competing in this country.”

• “Which price are you planning to submit in this tender?”

No member should seek, provide or respond to this type of information in an ECA IA forum.

Practical conduct in meetings

Competition law compliance is the responsibility of the Association and every participant.

ECA IA meetings and working groups should have a clear and legitimate purpose. Agendas should be circulated in advance, discussions should remain within the agenda, and appropriate minutes should be maintained.

If a potentially inappropriate subject is raised:

1. the discussion must stop immediately;

2. the chair or another participant should remind the group of these principles;

3. the interruption and the reason for it should be recorded in the minutes; and

4. legal advice should be sought before the matter is discussed further.

Participants should also remember that the same standards apply during breaks, dinners, online chats and other informal conversations connected with Association activities.

Cooperation does not replace competition

ECA IA seeks to build trust and make member capabilities more visible. Information about members’ applications, technical capabilities and geographical coverage can help identify opportunities for cooperation.

This transparency must not be used to divide markets, allocate customers, limit independent business activity or grant members protection from competition. Participation in an ECA IA project does not prevent other members from developing or offering competing solutions unless a lawful and specifically assessed agreement provides otherwise.

Each member remains free to:

• set its own prices and commercial terms;

• select its customers and markets;

• decide whether to participate in a project or tender;

• develop competing products and services; and

• enter into lawful bilateral or multilateral partnerships.

When in doubt, stop and ask

Competition law assessments depend on the context, the parties involved, the purpose of the cooperation and the information being exchanged.

If there is uncertainty about whether a discussion or proposed collaboration is appropriate, members should not proceed until the matter has been reviewed. Questions should be referred to the chair or the Association’s designated legal adviser.

These principles are intended to support responsible participation in ECA IA activities. They do not replace legal advice concerning a specific cooperation arrangement or situation.

Further information is available from the European Commission’s overview of EU antitrust and cartel rules and its Guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements.