Written by Simon Harms and Stephen C. Tupper

On 4 May 2012, the European Commission (the “Commission”) announced its preliminary intention not to renew its sector-specific guidelines on the application of the European Union (“EU”) competition rules to maritime transport services (the “Maritime Guidelines”). As a prelude to implementation, the Commission has issued a working paper setting out its position and has initiated a consultation requesting comments from interested parties by 27 July 2012.

By way of background, the Maritime Guidelines were adopted by the Commission in 2008 as a result of intense lobbying by stakeholders following the repeal the longstanding EU antitrust exemption for container shipping conferences set out in the liner shipping block exemption regulation. The Maritime Guidelines have an in-built expiry date of 26 September 2013.

The Commission has indicated that it does not consider retention of sector-specific guidelines for maritime transport as being necessary. The main reasons given for this position are summarised below.
Continue Reading Commission ready to declare maritime transport a sector like any other