15. 12. 92 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 366/47 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 25 November 1992 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/33.585 — Distribution of railway tickets by travel agents) (Only the French text is authentic) (92/568/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty ('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 3 and 15 thereof, Having regard to the statement of objections sent to the International Union of Railways on 10 October 1991, Having given the association of undertakings concerned the opportunity, in accordance with Article 19 (1) of Regulation No 17 and with the provisions of Commission Regulation No 99/63/EEC of 25 July 1963 on the hearings provided for in Article 19 (1) and (2) of Council Regulation No 17 (%), of being heard on the matters to which the Commission has taken objection, After consulting the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas : I. THE FACTS A. Subject of the proceeding (1)  This proceeding relates to the conditions laid down by the International Union of Railways (Union () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () OJ No 127, 20. 8. 1963, p. 2268/63. @ ©) 4 Internationale des Chemins de Fer — UIC) for the appointment of travel agents authorized to issue tickets for the carriage of passengers by rail and the conditions under which appointed agents may sell the tickets. B. The marketing of international tickets for the carriage of passengers by rail Under the rules currently applicable to rail trans- port, international transport is carried out on the basis of cooperation between all the railway compa- nies involved in a given journey. On that basis, the price of an international ticket generally corresponds to the total amount of the fares for the national sections of the journey. Transport operations are cleared after the event between the railway companies so that each receives the part of the fare corresponding to that part of the service provided by it. International rail tickets may be sold by the railway companies themselves or by appointed travel agents. The number of appointed agents and the percentage of tickets sold by them in relation to the total number of tickets sold differ considerably from one Member State to another. In 1990, the situation was as follows :