Press Release
ESC Statement On Sunag Settlement
6 March 1998
The impact of the out of court settlement of the SUNAG case has been to delay yet again a final judgement by the European Court on inland transport price fixing by liner conferences. As a result, this has prevented the European Court from ruling on their arguments in favour of inland transport price fixing.
Reacting on behalf of European industry, Chris Welsh, the Secretary General of the European Shippers' Council said:
"Shippers are disappointed that the liner conference industry has prevented the opportunity for legal certainty in regard to the Commission's decision declaring inland transport price fixing to be unlawful. The effect of the settlement is to delay the day when the European Court will be allowed by the TACA to rule on the issues raised by its own appeal against the Commission TAA and FEFC decisions."
"However", he said, "there has been undeniable pressure for settlement perhaps on the assumption that the President of the Court of First Instance would not revise the 1995 decisions suspending the TAA and FEFC Commission decisions on inland transport price fixing. Bearing in mind that the high level Carsberg committee of the industry representatives including shipowners has concluded that there can be no economic justification for inland transport price fixing in its December 1997 Report, the shipowners may feel less confident that the suspension of the TAA decision will be continued by the Court".
When asked what the European Shippers' Council intended to do, Mr Welsh indicated that the Court of First Instance could be expected to examine whether it was appropriate to expedite the oral hearing in the TAA and FEFC proceedings which it had suspended in order to allow the main European Court to rule on the central issue of inland transport price fixing. The CFI could well take the view that the public interest in compliance with competition policy required a fast resolution of the cases before the Court of First Instance. Equally, the present President of the Court of First Instance who did not adopt the suspension decision may wish to investigate whether it is any longer necessary to suspend the TAA and FEFC decisions.
Mr Welsh said "The shipowners' support for the Carsberg Report is totally inconsistent with their vehement arguments before the European Court in the SUNAG case and in the now long forgotten appeals in the TAA and FEFC cases before the Court of First Instance."
"The liner conference industry continues to devote enormous resources in efforts to persuade the European Commission and member states to apply the EC competition rules more leniently to the liner conference sector than any other industrial sector. This appears to be inconsistent with recent press reports indicating a fresh desire to resolve its differences with the Commission.
For further information contact: Nicolette van der Jagt, Secretary General of the ESC - Brussels 00 322 230 2113
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