Estonia updates the technology-transfer reference in its block-exemption rules

Estonia has updated the EU technology-transfer regulation referenced in its domestic block-exemption rulesRiigiteataja. The amended wording, effective from 25 August 2026, names Commission Regulation 2026/877 on specified categories of technology-transfer agreementsRiigiteatajaRiigiteataja. Businesses reviewing such agreements under Estonia’s Competition Act should check the revised reference in the national implementing measure.

The change appears in § 1(3) of Government Regulation No 9Riigiteataja. That section applies the listed EU block-exemption regulations in full when applying § 6(1) of the Competition Act, without national variations or additional conditions. The technology-transfer reference therefore forms part of the regulation’s list of EU instruments used for that domestic assessment.

The list includes Regulation 169/2009 for rail, road and inland-waterway transport. Regulation 461/2010 concerns certain vertical agreements in the motor-vehicle sector. Regulation 2023/1066 covers research-and-development agreements, and Regulation 2023/1067 concerns specialisation agreements. The amended technology-transfer entry should be distinguished from those separate categories when identifying which instrument is relevant to a particular agreement.

The national regulation treats the general vertical-agreements regulation separately. For Article 2(2) of Regulation 2022/720, it provides a domestic variation concerning agreements between an association of undertakings and an individual member or supplier. All members must be retailers of goods, and the financial-year revenue of any member or its related undertaking must not exceed €15 million under the stated national condition.

In other respects, the measure applies Regulation 2022/720 in full without domestic variations or additional conditions. That separate provision is useful context when checking the structure of the Estonian regulation: its treatment of the general vertical-agreements instrument is distinct from the list containing technology transfer.

Legal and finance teams assessing licensing or other commercial arrangements should first identify the agreement category and then consult the referenced instrument’s conditions. The August amendment is recorded in the consolidated version of Government Regulation No 9 of 28 January 2025, concerning application of EU block exemptions for Competition Act § 6(1).