European Competition Commission News

The Global Shippers' Forum has welcomed confirmation that the European Competition Commission will closely monitor the P3 for compliance with EU competition rules. GSF Secretary General, Chris Welsh, said,"The GSF has asked the Commission to closely scrutinise the P3 to ensure the Agreement is in line with the general provisions of the EU competition guidelines. GSF believes the P3 should assist the Commission in monitoring compliance by providing reports on service performance on specific port pairs, vessel withdrawals including short-term withdrawals that might cause disruption to shippers' supply chains, and information about future investment plans including future joint investment strategies that would impact on future capacity availability in the markets in which the P3 will operate.

The P3 agreement between Maersk, MSC, and CGM CMA continues to roil the waters. While the agreement’s pros-and cons are about to be scrutinized in an upcoming meeting between America’s Federal Maritime Commission, the European Competition Commission, and China’s Ministry of Transport, carriers outside the P3 are aggressively taking steps to stay competitive regardless of the regulators final decision. Hapag-Lloyd and CSAV announced 5 December they have been holding discussions on the possibility of merger or some other form of co-operation.