On 1 March 2022, the European Commission (Commission) launched a public consultation on the draft revised horizontal regime, encompassing draft horizontal guidelines (Draft Guidelines), a draft revised research & development block exemption regulation (Draft R&D BER), and a draft revised specialisation block exemption regulation (Draft Specialisation BER; together the Draft Horizontal BERs). Stakeholders are invited to comment during the public consultation until 26 April 2022. The Commission also published an explanatory note with an overview of the proposed changes and the results of its evaluation of the horizontal regime. The current block exemptions on research and development and on specialisation will expire on 31 December 2022, so the new rules are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2023.