The European Commission has adopted Guidelines on the application to maritime transport services of EC Treaty rules on restrictive business practices. Those Guidelines will help maritime operators understand the implications of this change, and provide details on market definition, information exchange in liner shipping and on operational co-operation agreements between tramp operators (i.e. unscheduled maritime transport of non-containerised bulk cargo), so-called pool agreements.

In September 2006, the Council decided to abolish the exemption from EU competition rules set by the Council Regulation 4056/86, which allowed liner shipping operators an exemption from EU competition rules to organise themselves into so-called "conferences" with the aim of fixing prices and coordinating capacity for the transport of containerised cargo. This abolition was due to take effect from 18 October 2008.

The Council also decided to extend the scope of the procedural antitrust rules to cabotage and tramp shipping services. This means that the Commission now enjoys the same investigation and enforcement powers as regards cabotage and tramp services as in all other economic sectors.

Since EU competition rules now apply fully to the maritime sector, under the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) 1/2003, companies have to assess themselves whether their agreements comply with those rules. The Guidelines on the application of competition rules in the maritime sector are intended to help companies carry out this task.

The Guidelines cover all maritime sectors that are concerned by Regulation 1419/2006 on the application of the competition rules to the maritime sector, namely cabotage, liner and tramp shipping services. The principles set out in the Guidelines should be applied bearing in mind the circumstances specific to each case and this guidance should not be used in other economic sectors.

The section dealing with the liner sector will apply for a period of five years starting from October 2008, the effective date of repeal of the Liner Conference Block Exemption.

The Guidelines have been adopted after a consultation process carried out over a Draft Guidelines document published in 2007. The Guidelines are intended to help undertakings and associations of undertakings operating maritime transport services to assess whether their agreements are compatible with competition regulations. It also makes special considerations for the most recurrent form of horizontal cooperation in the tramp shipping sector, the so called pool agreements. Those agreements which will, in principle, be contrary to competition rules, do not fall in certain cases under this prohibition given their positive effects in the market, providing a better service and more competitive prices for consumers.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes highlighted the "importance of maritime transport of goods to so many areas of the European economy". This importance implies the necessity to "make sure that the sector is operating as competitively as possible, keeping prices down and quality of service high. By providing guidance to maritime operators on EU competition rules, these Guidelines mark a significant step towards better enforcement in the maritime sector ".

The reform of competition rules applying to maritime transport services will be completed in the coming months by a public consultation on a preliminary draft regulation on the renewal of the block exemption Regulation for liner shipping consortia. That regulation allows shipping lines to enter into extensive cooperation for the purpose of providing a joint service (so-called "consortia"). The Maritime Guidelines adopted today are an integral part of the Commission's Action Plan to implement the Integrated Maritime Policy.