Last week, European Shippers’ Council voiced shippers’ position on unreliability and peaking prices in the maritime container transport at the meeting organised by the European Commission.
For shippers, it was disappointing to have no feedback or proposal of steps from the side of the European Commission, taking into account the months that the EC had been monitoring the situation. The market which is only regulated by the Consortium Block Exemption Regulation (CBER), in this crisis cannot be left on its own. The CBER seems to give shipping lines a free pass on EU competition law, without any monitoring by regulators. Sooner or later, regulators will have to step it.
For that reason, ESC wants the European Commission to issue a Guidance document for “ethical collaboration”. These guidelines would give parties more clarity on how to deal with each other in the coming weeks and months. For the longer term, additional measures could be considered, for example, in the field of the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation and/or in the field of large vessels.
For more information, please see the Press Release.