Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-03-Speech-1-092"
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"en.20060703.15.1-092"2
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". Mr President, it is my pleasure to join you tonight for this discussion on the report by Mr Wortmann-Kool on the Commission’s proposal to repeal Regulation (EC) No 4056/86.
The Commission is very pleased with the report’s recognition that price- fixing liner conferences are no longer justified in today’s market conditions, either legally or economically.
The thrust of our proposal is to increase EU competitiveness, much in keeping with the Lisbon agenda. Roughly 18% of imports and 21% of EU exports are affected by carriers’ ability to fix prices jointly under the liner conference block exemption. The repeal of this block exemption will result in lower transport prices, engendering an overall benefit to the EU economy.
That said, the Commission has also been concerned with preserving the competitiveness of the EU liner shipping industry. That is why we are preparing guidelines explaining how competition law will apply to the liner sector, once Regulation (EC) No 4056/86 is repealed. The Commission is committed to promulgating the guidelines by the end of 2007. In view of the two-year transitional period, the guidelines will be in place before the repeal of the liner conference block exemption takes effect, thus giving industry ample time to adjust to a new competitive environment in the knowledge that what it seeks to do is lawful.
The Commission has been discussing closely with both the transport providers, carriers, and the transport users, shippers, on the content of the guidelines. The focus will be on ensuring the competitiveness of the transport sector. I think we all agree that ensuring competitiveness is not the same as shielding the sector from competition. Information exchanges are lawful and are common practice in most industries, because they enable business to make better decisions. However, they must not go so far as to prevent undertakings from determining their conduct in the market independently of each other.
The process leading to the adoption of the guidelines by the Commission includes discussions with both transport users and transport providers, as well as with the Member States in the European Competition Network’s maritime transport subgroup. Draft guidelines will be published so that all interested parties have the opportunity to comment. Other institutions may also put forward comments during that time.
In other cases, notably in the field of state aids, the European Parliament has used this opportunity to make its views known. We look forward to the European Parliament’s continued interest in this important initiative.
I understand the concerns raised on international issues. I would like to reassure you that we are keeping our trading partners aware of our initiative, explaining the economic and legal reasons that underpin it. These contacts have so far been positive. There is a general acknowledgement that the repeal of the liner conference block exemption by the EU will not cause conflicts of law with third countries and that it is a process that responds to today’s market conditions.
Overall, the Commission can take on board most of the amendments tabled. This should, however, not be in the form of recitals to a legislative text. I believe it should remain a clear and simple repeal of Regulation (EC) No 4056/86. However, your recommendations will be reflected in follow-up measures. These include the guidelines, as well as the information updates and the reassessment of other legislative texts such as Regulation (EC) No 954/79 on the accession to the UN Convention on the Code of Conduct for Liner Conferences, to which the European Parliament has drawn the Commission’s attention."@en1
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