15. 1. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 13/39 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 17 December 1986 in proceedings under Article 85 of the EEC Treaty (IV/30937 — Pronuptia) (Only the French text is authentic) (87/17/EEC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17, First Regula- tion implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty (), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Spain and Portugal, and in particular Articles 6 and 8 thereof, Having regard to the application for negative clearance or exemption filed on 22 April 1983 by Pronuptia de Paris SA, Paris, of its standard form of retail franchise agree- ment which it proposed to sign with all its franchisees, Having published a summary of the agreement in accor- dance with Article 19 (3) of Regulation No 17 (3, Having consulted the Advisory Committee on Restrictive Practices and Monopolies, Whereas : I. FACTS A. Pronuptia de Paris (1)  Pronuptia de Paris (Pronuptia) is a French public limited company incorporated in 1958 which has a registered capital of FF 3,3 million. Pronuptia specializes in the sale of bridal wear and accesso- ries. On 9 December 1985 financial difficulties (" OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () OJ No C 178, 16. 7. 1986, p. 2. forced the company to apply to the Paris Tribunal de Commerce for temporary protection from its creditors, during which it was allowed to continue its operations. (2)  Pronuptia carries on business mainly in France and other European countries, but is also represented outside Europe in countries such as Canada, Japan, Lebanon and the United States. (3)  In France, its distribution network numbers 148 of which 135 are franchised, five are subsidiaries and eight are branches. (40 In the other Member States (Germany, Belgium, Spain, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom) in which Pronuptia uses franchising to distribute its products, it has a little over 100 fran- chised outlets. In Germany, Spain and the United Kingdom it also has subsidiaries. (5) The total turnover of the Pronuptia network throughout the world in 1985 was about FF 250 million. (6)  Pronuptia claims to have the biggest chain of shops offering formal wear in the world, and to be the only network specializing in bridal wear in France, where there is no similarly organized competi- tion (}). In France, Pronuptia holds about 30 % of the bridal wear market. Against this, it holds only more modest shares in other Member States. () Pronuptia Operations Manual, Vol. 1. Section I, p. 1, and Sec- tion II, pp. 1 and 3.