ESC “disappointed but not surprised” by EC block exemption draft
The European Shippers’ Council said Tuesday it was “disappointed but not surprised” by a draft report on the review of the liner shipping block exemption presented by the European Parliament’s committee on transport and tourism.The ESC has long been pressing the European Commission to repeal Europe’s Regulation 4056/86, which grants liner conferences an exemption to set common freight rates and cooperate on capacity.
Rapporteur Rodi Kratsa-Tsagaropoulou said she supports the EC’s plan to revise Regulation 4056/86, but hinted that recent proposals by the European Liner Affairs Association, including the setting of formulas for fuel surcharges and other such levies, “contains some interesting elements which could be used by the commission in drafting the new regulation.”
“The report seems to be advocating some halfway house, where the conference system could still exist and in some way protect small and medium-sized deep-sea liner shipping companies, without price fixing but with some form of transparent freight rate calculation. The report also suggests that there would be no advantage to changing the current conference system,” the ESC said.
“I believe this report will simply further confuse members of the European Parliament,” said Nicolette van der Jagt, ESC secretary general.
“Some of the confusion could be caused by virtue of the mixed objectives of the TRAN Committee: the report said the purpose of the regulatory review must be to “preserve and promote the expansion of a viable and competitive European shipping sector; however, the purpose of EU competition policy is to protect and benefit the consumer. The purpose of reviewing the liner-shipping regulation is to help European industry as customers of the shipping lines remain competitive by keeping down the cost and improving the service levels of liner shipping, and thereby ensuring the consumer benefits through lower prices,” van der Jagt said.
The report goes to the Plenary of the European Parliament next month for approval.
