National Competition Authorities News

It also has called for greater data monitoring by national competition authorities following recent announcements regarding shipping line collaborations which, it claims, are bringing “the container liner market one step closer to total convergence”. The increased collaboration between the French container ship operator CMA CGM and Germany’s Hamburg Süd will bring the container liner market one step closer to total convergence, the European Shippers’ Council warns. The Brussels-based organization wants a focus on “operational and juridical links between ship owners” and the “correlation between price modification and capacity modification”.

The European Commission has opened formal proceedings to investigate whether certain provisions accompanying claim-sharing and joint-reinsurance agreements in the marine insurance sector might infringe European Union antitrust rules. The Commission fears that the provisions at stake in the agreements between the Protection & Indemnity Clubs (P&I Clubs) within the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) may harm ship owners and the insurers that are not members of the IG. P&I Clubs are mutual non-profit making associations that provide Protection & Indemnity insurance - a type of direct marine insurance - to their members, the ship owners. The International Group of P&I Clubs (IG) is a worldwide association of thirteen P&I Clubs.

The European Commission (EC) issued a statement that EC officials, with the assistance of officials from National Competition Authorities, carried out simultaneous unannounced inspections at the premises of a number of ferry operators located in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The purpose of the inspections was to ascertain whether there is evidence of suspected market sharing agreements and related illegal practices foreclosing competition and preventing access to the Nordic Ferry market. Source: Holland & Knight

The European Commission in Brussels announced the clearance of the proposed combination of P&O Princess and Carnival. The EC's decision concludes that the proposed concentration would not lead to the creation of dominant positions which might impede effective competition in any European markets. The decision reflects the ease with which new operators can enter into or expand cruise operations and the rapid growth of the UK and German markets forecast for the coming years. "We are obviously very pleased with the conclusions reached by the European Commission," said Micky Arison, Chairman and Chief Executive of Carnival. "The Commission undertook an in-depth review of the proposed transaction, hearing arguments from all parties.

Exxon Corp. and Mobil Corp. have moved to address European Commission concerns about their merger in the natural gas sector in Germany and over an existing European joint venture between Mobil and BP Amoco Plc, a Commission spokesman said. The Commission was also no longer concerned that the $80 billion merger and a rival deal between BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield would result in excessive consolidation in oil exploration, the spokesman added, paving the way for regulatory approval in the European Union. The news that the Commission has dropped fears the two oil mergers could significantly reduce competition in the upstream sector…