IP/00/404
Brussels, 25 April 2000
Commission renews block exemption for consortium
agreements in shipping
The European Commission has renewed for a period of five years a block
exemption1 allowing shipping companies to enter into consortium
agreements covering the maritime transport of cargo. The block exemption
regulation, which was adopted in 1995, automatically covers liner shipping
consortia which have a market share of below 30 percent.
It is common for shipping companies to conclude consortia agreements with a view
to provide a joint liner shipping service through the coordination of sailing timetables,
the exchange and sale of space on vessels and the pooling of vessels and port
facilities. In 1995 the Commission adopted a block exemption Regulation covering
such consortium agreements. 2 That Regulation has now come to the end of its fiveyear period of application. Acting on a proposal from Mr Mario MONTI,
Commissioner for Competition, the Commission has adopted a Regulation renewing
the block exemption for a further period of five years, confirming its favourable
attitude towards liner shipping consortia.
Such agreements usually allow shipping lines to rationalize their activities and
achieve economies of scale, thus improving the productivity and quality of liner
shipping services. Provided consortia are faced with sufficient competition, those
advantages benefit exporting firms, the customers of shipping lines. The block
exemption therefore only automatically covers consortia which have a market share
of below 30% or 35% on any market on which they operate, depending on whether
they are inside or outside a so-called liner conference.
The fact that a consortium exceeds the market share limits does not mean that it
would necessarily be unlawful, but only that it would have to be examined for
compatibility with the competition rules on an individual basis. For consortia with a
market share above 30% or 35% but below 50%, a consortium will benefit from
exemption if it is notified to the Commission and the Commission does not oppose
exemption with six months. A consortium with a market share above 50% on any
market on which it operates may be notified to benefit, if appropriate, from an
individual exemption.
The block exemption forbids price-fixing. It covers, however, both consortia operating
within a liner conference and consortia operating outside such conferences. Under a
separate block exemption, members of a liner conference may fix maritime transport
rates provided that they fulfil certain conditions and meet certain obligations.3
1
Commission Regulation (EC) No 823/2000 of 19 April 2000 on the application of Article 81(3) of the Treaty to
certain categories of agreements, decisions and concerted practices between liner shipping companies
(consortia) – OJ 20 April 2000
2
Regulation 870/95.
3
Article 3 of Regulation 4056/86
The consortium block exemption applies only to consortia providing international liner
shipping services to or from one or more Community ports. The service must be
exclusively for the carriage of cargo; the exemption does not cover the transport of
passengers.
2