As of October 2008, liner shipping companies lose their privileged status under EU competition law due to withdrawal of the liner conference block exemption, which generously authorized horizontal price-fixing and similar agreements between liner shipping companies. Where the liner consortia block exemption does not apply, all cooperative activity should be carefully and individually assessed under the competition provisions of the EC Treaty. Alla Pozdnakova has taken this opportunity to research and write an in-depth study of competition law problems in the liner shipping context. Her analysis is not only the first to examine the new European regime, and thus the most up-to-date study of the subject; it is in fact the first major independent study of how Articles 81 and 82 EC are construed and applied to the market conduct of liner shipping companies. In particular, the author addresses the following legal questions: * Does cooperation between liner shipping companies infringe Article 81(1) even if it does not entail hard-core restrictions of competition? * Can a cooperative arrangement between liner shipping companies claim that the efficiencies they produce outweigh the negative impact on competition (Article 81(3))? * When do certain market strategies of liner carriers become an abuse of a collective or individual dominant position (Article 82)? * Does parallel pricing behaviour infringe EC Treaty competition rules? Systematically, the author considers various market strategies of liner shipping companies and tests them as to their compatibility with EC Treaty competition provisions. In doing so, she thoroughly analyses European Commission decisions and judgments of the European courts, applying them authoritatively to the liner shipping sector. In this way, her book provides a well-structured account that clearly identifies the legal issues that liner shipping companies are likely to face once the special treatment traditionally allowed them is withdrawn. A summary of current and prospective developments in EU competition regulation and policy in liner shipping rounds up the analysis. Liner Shipping and EU Competition Law will be a unique and powerful resource for practitioners and policymakers as liner shipping companies restructure their agreements and market strategies to accommodate loss of the block exemption. It is also sure to become a definitive analysis of the legal identity of the liner shipping market sector under European competition law.

In twenty years, the globalization of trade has led to a change in scale that has upset the balance of power between the players in online containerized maritime transport and the logistics chain passing through European seaports. Three global shipping alliances dominate 90% of online containerized maritime transport, while further integrating port activities. Twelve Asian ports, eight of which are Chinese, are now among the top fifteen in the world. At the same time, Chinese interests, supported by public authorities and resources, are taking control of terminals and port companies in Europe, as part of the geopolitical project of the New Silk Roads. This economic and industrial context is emblematic of the challenges facing European competition law, which has so far accompanied rather than controlled these transformations. European competition rules will have to be mobilized in a global context, alongside the new rules on the control of foreign direct investment. This study takes stock of the new regulatory challenges in this sector of prime importance for the Union.

A previous winner of the Comité Maritime International’s Albert Lilar Prize for the best shipping law book worldwide, EU Shipping Law is the foremost reference work for professionals in this area. This third edition has been completely revised to include developments in the competition/antitrust regime, new safety and environmental rules, and rules governing security and ports. It includes detailed commentary and analysis of almost every aspect of EU law as it affects shipping.

A liner conference, as a self-regulation organisational form of liner shipping companies, constitutes a typical "hard-core cartel" with significant anti-competitive effect. One of the main three trade routes of liner shipping traffic is the Europe-Asia Trade, on the two ends of which both the European Community (EC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) play important roles in the international liner shipping market. However, the competition regimes on liner conferences in both jurisdictions are not equivalent. From a comparative point of view, this book reviews the historical development of maritime policy and regulatory legislation in the EC and the PRC, catches insight into the system of regulation regime and individual provisions in substantive and procedural meaning, and finally provides a wide-ranging perspective on the future competition regulation in respect of the latest developments in both jurisdictions.

No branch of European law has been as subject to expansion and change as competition law. Between the enormous forces of globalisation, technology, and EU enlargement, the Commission and national competition authorities have been compelled to keep rethinking their practices and procedures and issuing new regulations. Now, in the wake of its highly acclaimed predecessors, the new Third Edition of European Competition Law offers the practitioner everything required to act in accordance with the latest developments in the field. Along with the thorough guide to continuing practice that its readers have come to expect, European Competition Law in its Third Edition fully covers such areas as the following: the Commission's new assessment of distribution practices and vertical restraints, in particular the block exemptions granted by Regulations 2790/1999 and 1400/2002; procedure before national competition authorities and national courts for enforcement of European rules under Regulation 1/2003; the new Merger Control Regulation in force as of 1 May 2004; the new Transfer of Technology Regulation; and, the increased fines for hard-core cartel practices or abuse of dominant market position. The Third Edition is remarkable in that it actually previews the substantive and procedural rules that will be coming into effect during 2004 and subsequent years. And, like prior editions, the work has no peer in its coverage of past administrative practice and the case law of the Court of Justice. All in all, European Competition Law, Third Edition, will be of immeasurable value to practitioners who need to keep informed about how EC competition laws are applied, so they can continue to render practical, meaningful advice to firms whose agreements, transactions and conduct in the marketplace are governed by competition rules.

This new Sixth Edition of a major work by the well-known competition law team at Van Bael & Bellis in Brussels brings the book up to date to take account of the many developments in the case law and relevant legislation that have occurred since the Fifth Edition in 2010. The authors have also taken the opportunity to write a much-extended chapter on private enforcement and a dedicated section on competition law in the pharmaceutical sector. As one would expect, the new edition continues to meet the challenge for businesses and their counsel, providing a thoroughly practical guide to the application of the EU competition rules. The critical commentary cuts through the theoretical underpinnings of EU competition law to expose its actual impact on business. In this comprehensive new edition, the authors examine such notable developments as the following: important rulings concerning the concept of a restriction by object under Article 101; the extensive case law in the field of cartels, including in relation to cartel facilitation and price signalling; important Article 102 rulings concerning pricing and exclusivity, including the Post Danmark and Intel judgments, as well as standard essential patents; the current block exemption and guidelines applicable to vertical agreements, including those applicable to the motor vehicle sector; developments concerning online distribution, including the Pierre Fabre and Coty rulings; the current guidelines and block exemptions in the field of horizontal cooperation, including the treatment of information exchange; the evolution of EU merger control, including court defeats suffered by the Commission and the case law on procedural infringements; the burgeoning case law related to pharmaceuticals, including concerning reverse payment settlements; the current technology transfer guidelines and block exemption; procedural developments, including in relation to the right to privacy, access to file, parental liability, fining methodology, inability to pay and hybrid settlements; the implementation of the Damages Directive and the first interpretative rulings. As a comprehensive, up-to-date and above all practical analysis of the EU competition rules as developed by the Commission and EU Courts, this authoritative new edition of a classic work stands alone. Like its predecessors, it will be of immeasurable value to both business persons and their legal advisers.

Maritime competition as an economic phenomenon is currently influenced by a number of factors both at EU and international level. From a legislative point of view, the recent repeal of EC Reg. 4056/1986 affects the treatment of horizontal agreements not only in the liner but also in the bulk sector, which was excluded until recently from the scope of EC secondary competition rules. However, competition distortions are not only a question of private arrangements. They emanate also from measures and practices incompatible with the freedom to provide services, Member states’ protectionism and international mandatory regulation. This volume comparatively and comprehensively examines all these issues, by bringing together contributions from distinguished academics. Particular focus is given on private shipping cartels, the liberalization of cabotage and port services, indirect competition-distorting factors and the latest developments on international regulation of carriage of goods by sea.

Liner conferences are among the oldest surviving cartels in the world. Created in the 1870s they have existed since on all the world's shipping routes. With the approval or tacit acquiescence of governments everywhere, they fix freight rates, control capacity and share markets. The United Nations Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences (1974) granted them global recognition and prompted the European Community to recommend Member States to join the Convention on the Liner Code (1979) and to grant them the most generous and extraordinary block exemption from EC antitrust rules ever (1986). The European Commission's administration of the block exemption has clarified some of its aspects and, to a certain extent, limited its scope; but until very recently, it has not questioned the appropriateness of the exceptionally lenient treatment of liner shipping cartels in the European Union. After a report by the OECD Secretariat (2002) recommending abolition of antitrust immunity for shipping cartels in member countries, the European Commission launched a review of the block exemption (2003) which has led to its repeal (2006). This book studies first the origins, the early history and the regulation of liner conferences in the world and in the European Community, focusing in particular on the Regulation which granted a block exemption to liner conferences. Then, it examines one by one the four conditions for a block exemption to be granted under EC law, and concludes that none of them is fulfilled by shipping cartels. Finally, it proposes some alternative scenarios and solutions for the adequate enforcement of antitrust law in the maritime sector once the block exemption has been repealed.

Trade liberalization and the breakup of private carrier agreements could reduce average liner transport prices by a third and cut costs on goods carried to the United States alone by up to $3 billion.

Discusses competition policy, which has a key role to play in ensuring that European industry remains competitive. Contents: cooperation & competition in a rapidly changing & increasingly global economic environment; transport; trans-European networks & competition rules; competition & environment, secondary product markets, liberal professions, subsidiarity & decentralization; state monopolies & monopoly rights: telecommunications, energy, postal services, transport, & other commercial state monopolies; merger control & state aid, international activities; & information policy. Charts & tables.