Comfort Letter in United Kingdom

Definition of Comfort Letter

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Comfort Letter : (comfort letter, administrative letter)

A letter sent by the Competition Directorate of the European Commission following a notification for exemption or *negative clearance of a commercial agreement that may infringe EU *competition law. It is very rare for the Commission to issue a binding decision following such a notification. However, although a comfort letter does not have the force of a formal decision, it would be unusual for the Commission to fine a business in relation to an agreement that was notified and in relation to which a comfort letter was then issued.