Commission notice pursuant to Article 23(3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 and Article 19(3) of Council Regulation 17 concerning Case COMP/37.396 — Revised Transatlantic Conference Agreement (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2001-11-29
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: access to information, competition law, contract of carriage, control of restrictive practices, maritime transport, organisation of transport

C 335/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

29.11.2001

85. Hinsichtlich Punkt 3 stellt die Kommission fest, dass es
sich um dasselbe Kontokorrent wie unter Punkt 2 Buch-
stabe d) zu handeln scheint, das somit doppelt ber(cid:252)cksich-
tigt wurde.

86. In Hinblick auf Punkt 4, den Deutschland als Beitrag des
Beihilfeempf(cid:228)ngers anf(cid:252)hrt, stellt die Kommission fest, dass
Cashflow vorwiegend auf Grundlage gew(cid:228)hrter Beihilfe-
ma(cid:223)nahmen realisiert wird. Dar(cid:252)ber hinaus liegt er zum
Zeitpunkt der Beurteilung noch nicht vor und seine in
Ansatz gebrachte H(cid:246)he kann nicht garantiert werden. Ob-
wohl der erwartete Cashflow den Bedarf an Finanzmitteln
f(cid:252)r die Umstrukturierung des Unternehmens verringern
wird, ist fraglich, ob dies als Beitrag des Beihilfeempf(cid:228)ngers
zur Umstrukturierung ber(cid:252)cksichtigt werden kann.

87.

In Bezug auf Punkt 5 sollte beachtet werden, dass die
Beitr(cid:228)ge der Mitarbeiter weder als Beitrag des Investors
noch als staatliche Finanzierung gewertet werden k(cid:246)nnen,
so lange sie selbst keine Investoren des Unternehmens sind.

88. Angesichts dieser (cid:220)berlegungen scheint der Beihilfeemp-
f(cid:228)nger keine Beitr(cid:228)ge zu den Umstrukturierungskosten
aus eigenen Mitteln oder Fremdfinanzierung geleistet zu
haben. Folglich bezweifelt die Kommission, ob sich die
Beihilfen auf das f(cid:252)r die Umstrukturierung notwendige

Mindestma(cid:223) beschr(cid:228)nken und ob der Beitrag des Investors
als erheblich betrachtet werden kann, wie es in den Leit-
linien gefordert wird.

IV. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNGEN

89. Aus den dargelegten Gr(cid:252)nden hat die Kommission Zweifel
daran, ob die Beihilfen in einem angemessenen Verh(cid:228)ltnis
zu den Kosten und Nutzen der Umstrukturierung stehen.

90. Infolgedessen hat die Kommission beschlossen,

in Bezug
auf die finanziellen Ma(cid:223)nahmen, die der Hoch- und Inge-
nieurbau GmbH (HIG) gew(cid:228)hrt wurden, gem(cid:228)(cid:223) den Arti-
keln 6 und 16 der Verordnung (EG) Nr. 659/1999 des
Rates das Verfahren nach Artikel 88 Absatz 2 EG-Vertrag
einzuleiten und Deutschland aufzufordern, innerhalb eines
Monats nach Eingang dieses Schreibens Stellung zu neh-
men und alle f(cid:252)r die W(cid:252)rdigung der Ma(cid:223)nahmen sach-
dienlichen Informationen zu (cid:252)bermitteln. Sie bittet die
deutschen Beh(cid:246)rden, dem etwaigen Empf(cid:228)nger der Beihil-
fen unmittelbar eine Kopie dieses Schreibens zuzuleiten.

91. Die Kommission verweist auf Artikel 14 der Verordnung
(EG) Nr. 659/1999 des Rates, wonach alle rechtswidrigen
Beihilfen von den Empf(cid:228)ngern zur(cid:252)ckgefordert werden
k(cid:246)nnen.(cid:146)

pursuant to Article 23(3) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 and Article 19(3) of Council
Regulation 17 concerning Case COMP/37.396 (cid:151) Revised Transatlantic Conference Agreement

COMMISSION NOTICE

(2001/C 335/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

the parties to the Transatlantic
1. On 29 January 1999,
((cid:145)TACA(cid:146)) (1)
submitted to the
Conference Agreement
Commission pursuant
to Article 12(1) of Regulation
(EEC) No 4056/86 and Article 12(1) of Regulation (EEC)
No 1017/68 an application for exemption under Article
81(3) and Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 1017/68 in
respect of a revised version of the Transatlantic Conference
individual
for which an application for
Agreement
exemption was
European
the
Commission on 5 July 1994 and in relation to which the
Commission issued a Decision on 16 September 1998 (the
(cid:145)TACA Decision(cid:146)) (2). The revised agreement is referred to
as the (cid:145)revised TACA(cid:146).

originally made

to

2. On 6 May 1999, pursuant to Article 12(2) of Regulation
(EEC) No 4056/86 and to Article 12(2) of Regulation (EEC)
No 1017/68, the Commission published a summary of the
application in the Official
European

Journal

the

of

(1) Atlantic Container Line AB, Hapag-Lloyd Container Linie GmbH,
Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, A. P. Moller (cid:151) Maersk
Sealand, Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Orient Overseas Container Line
(UK) Ltd, P & O Nedlloyd Container Line Limited.

(2) Commission Decision of 16 September 1999 (OJ L 95, 9.4.1999,

p. 1).

Communities, inviting interested parties to comment within
30 days from the date of publication (3).

3. On 4 August 1999, before the expiry of

the 90-day
deadline provided for in Article 12(3) of Regulation (EEC)
No 4056/86, the Commission informed the parties that
there existed serious doubts within the meaning of that
to the
article as to the applicability of Article 81(3)
raise
notified agreement. As the Commission did not
serious doubts with regard to those aspects of
the
notified agreement that fell within the scope of Regulation
(EEC) No 1017/68,
consequently
deemed exempt until 5 May 2002 (4).

those aspects were

4. The Commission intends to take a decision finding that the
remaining aspects of
that may
infringe Article 81(1) either fall within the scope of the
block exemption for liner shipping conferences provided
in Regulation (EEC) No 4056/86 or qualify for
for
exemption under Article 81(3).

the notified agreement

(3) OJ C 125, 6.5.1999, p. 6.
(4) See press release IP/99/620, 5.8.1999.

29.11.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 335/13

5. In its letter of serious doubts, the Commission stated its
concern that certain provisions of the notified agreement
the TACA to exchange
would allow the members of
information relating to individual
contracting
activity in a manner restrictive of competition.

service

8. The Commission considers that any remaining provision of
the revised TACA that may be restrictive of competition
and may fall outside the scope of Regulation (EEC) No
4056/86 satisfies the conditions for individual exemption
set out in Article 81(3).

6. In response to the Commission’s concerns, the members of
the TACA have made changes and given undertakings.
These changes and undertakings include awarding the
individual
task of collecting and aggregating confidential
contract data to an independent third party and ensuring
that, with certain limited exceptions, no carrier-specific
information not in the public domain is either gathered
by, or distributed to, the TACA secretariat or the parties.
The Commission is satisfied that these changes and under-
takings are sufficient to address the concerns which led it
to raise serious doubts.

7. Following discussions with the Commission, the parties
have further amended the provision in the revised TACA
agreement that gives the parties a general authority to
regulate the carrying capacity offered by each member.
The amendments include an undertaking not to increase
any tariff rate in conjunction with any capacity regulation
programme or to create an artificial peak season. The
parties will also provide the Commission with reports
before, during and after the implementation of any such
alia,
capacity
projected and actual cargo liftings, available capacity and
is understood that any TACA capacity
unused slots.
programme would follow the guidelines
in
previous Commission decisions, according to which a
in a
coordinated capacity withdrawal
situation where such withdrawal is necessary in order to
cope with a short-term fluctuation of demand and is
compatible with the provisions of Article 81(3) of the EC
Treaty.

regulation programme

is permissible

covering,

set out

inter

It

to

subject

internal

considerable

9. The Commission also notes that the parties to the TACA
external
are
and
individual
competition. The introduction of confidential
service
contracts, made possible by the US Ocean
Shipping Reform Act of 1998, has dramatically increased
competition between the members of the TACA and has
reduced the proportion of cargo carried under
the
conference tariff. External competitive pressures have also
increased, as is evidenced by the decline in the market
share of the TACA parties from above 60 % in 1995 to
approximately 50 % today. The Commission concludes that
subject to the parties’ compliance with the above under-
takings, there is no risk that the notified agreement will
lead to the elimination of effective competition on the
relevant market.

10. In accordance with Article 23(3) of Regulation (EEC) No
4056/86 and Article 19(3) of Regulation No 17, before the
Commission adopts a decision it invites interested parties
to submit their comments within 30 days from the date of
(cid:145)Case
this notice, quoting
publication of
COMP/37.396 (cid:151) revised TACA(cid:146), to:

reference

European Commission
Directorate-General for Competition
Unit COMP/D2
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 200
B-1049 Brussels
Fax (32-2) 296 98 12.