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Law
Competition Policy

Maritime Transport

Overview

The carriage of goods by sea is generally regarded as a key sector for trade within the EU as well as globally. There is overwhelming economic evidence on the relevance of maritime transport for global trade and its impact generally on economic growth. According to an UNCTAD Report, the share of international trade carried by sea is around 80%, in terms of volume, and over 70% in terms of value. For less developed economies, the share is even higher.

Broadly, the maritime freight sector consists of two categories - bulk shipping which involves the carriage of mainly commodities, such as for example coal and steel in bulk, and container liner shipping which involves the carriage of all varieties of goods in containers of varying sizes. Liner shipping refers to the provision of regular, scheduled maritime freight transport, usually by container, between a range of ports at one end and a range of other ports at the other end. The provision of a liner shipping service involves a significant input in terms of numbers of vessels - for example, the operation of a weekly service between points in Asia and Europe would involve eight to nine similarly sized ships.

As regards carriage of passengers by sea, it is estimated that some 400 million passengers travel through EU ports annually. Passenger transport within the EU is provided mainly by national and intra-EU services with Italian and Greek ports accounting for some 74 and 70 million passengers respectively and handling a combined share of 35% of total number of passengers travelling through EU ports in 2017.

 

Antitrust

The Application of the Competition Rules to Maritime

While historically subject to sector-specific legislation and in particular, an exemption for liner conferences, today all forms of maritime transport fall under the scope of the general EU competition rules and Regulation No 1/2003, is now fully applicable to the maritime sector. There remains one exception, which relates to certain types of cooperative agreements called consortia.

A block exemption for consortia was first adopted in 1986 and has been renewed a number of times since. More specifically, Commission Regulation (EC) No 906/2009 (the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation) exempts certain types of cooperation – creating a safe harbour for consortia agreements from the prohibition in Article 101(1) of the TFEU where certain conditions are met. A consortium is a type of cooperation between groups of ship owners in which the members of the consortium pool their vessels in order to provide a joint service on a route. The Consortia Block Exemption Regulation defines a consortium as an agreement between carriers, "the object of which is to bring about cooperation in the joint operation of maritime transport service, and which improves the service that would be offered individually by each of its members, [...] in order to rationalize their operations by means of technical, operational and/or commercial arrangements."

The current Consortia Block Exemption Regulation was extended in 2020 for a period of four years to 24 April 2024. Following a review process launched in August 2022, the Commission has decided not to further extend the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation. The Commission has concluded that the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation no longer promotes competition in the shipping sector and therefore it will let it expire on 25 April 2024.

For further information, see:

International Co-operation

In the area of maritime transport and, in the context of the Global Regulatory Maritime Summit, the Commission has regular biennial discussions on competition and regulatory issues with, the United States' Federal Maritime Commission and the Ministry of Transport of the People’s Republic of China, in particular in view of the global nature of the liner shipping market.

For further information - see Key Cases and Judgements

 

State Aid

The application of State aid rules to maritime transport aims on the one hand at ensuring a level-playing field within the EU and on the other hand at preserving the competitiveness of the European maritime industry vis à vis third countries. State aid to maritime transport may be granted if it fulfils the conditions laid down in the EU Guidelines on State aid to maritime transport (“the Maritime Guidelines”).

The objective of these Guidelines is to provide incentives to encourage ship registration in the EU, help the EU shipping industry to remain competitive on the global market and preserve EU employment, improve maritime know-how and promote high environmental standards. To that end, the Maritime Guidelines allow for certain types of tax reliefs for shipping companies. The most important measures are the so-called tonnage tax schemes and seafarer schemes. Tonnage tax schemes replace the normal corporate tax by a tax linked directly to a notional profit based on ship tonnage operated. Seafarer schemes are tax reliefs for shipping companies (and sometimes for seafarers) for income tax and social security contributions.

The Maritime Guidelines entered into force in 2004. In the first half of 2012, the Commission consulted the public on their application and on whether they should be revised. Taking into account that consultation, it was considered that a revision of the Maritime Guidelines was not required.

In order to ensure a consistent application of the Maritime Guidelines, the Commission follows a series of harmonized standards. For instance, the Commission has provided clarifications as regards the activities that are eligible and ineligible for support under the Maritime Guidelines, and under what conditions. The Commission has adopted a number of decisions in this sector, reinforcing its decision-making practice. These cases concerned the setting up of new schemes, prolongations as well as extensions of existing schemes.