• Financial Times, Thursday, July 23, 2009 10:29 AM

Estée Lauder chairman William Lauder tells Jonathan Birchall and Francesco Guerrera that changing European competition laws could turn the business of buying beauty and skin care brands into an experience akin to flying on EasyJet, the low-cost British airline. "You get on the plane, they throw you a bag of peanuts ... that's a commoditized experience," says he.

The European Commission is reviewing the selective exemption rights that it grants to leading luxury companies that allows them to restrict distribution to favored retailers and to their own e-commerce Web sites.

Lauder says small local retailers have "a real familiarity about the local clientele" that is "one of the key, core fundamental social principles of so many cultures and societies in Europe." Nevertheless, the EC is not expected to contest the "selective distribution" principle when it puts new draft guidelines out for consultation next week, Birchall and Guerrera report.

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