Lecture at the webinar of the Croatian Competition Law and Policy Association

On Thursday, February 17, 2022, 13: 00-14: 00, a webinar of the Croatian Competition Law and Policy Association was held on the topic “APPLICATION OF THE EU COMPETITION RULES ON THE ACTIVITIES OF SEAPORTS AND MARKET LIBERALIZATION”.

Lecturer: dr. sc. Božena Bulum, Adriatic Institute of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Discussant: Associate Professor dr. sc. Melita Carević, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
Moderator: prof. dr. sc. Jasminka Pecotić Kaufman, Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb

Abstract

The creation of a European transport policy in the field of seaports (European port policy) began after a series of decisions in the 1990s issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Commission regarding restrictions on the freedom to provide services in Italian seaports. In 1997, the Commission published a Green Paper on seaports and maritime infrastructure, announcing the adoption of European legislation for the port sector. Liberalization of the port services market has been hampered by the great differences that exist between seaports in the Union such as their size, organizational structure, function, geographical characteristics, ownership and management systems, historical and legal heritage, degree of privatization, port links with the local community, etc. Regulation (EU) 2017/352 establishing a framework for the provision of port services and common rules on financial transparency of ports which (partially) liberalized the port services market was adopted twenty years after the Green Paper. Regulation 2017/352 lays down the conditions that Member States of the Union may impose regarding the access to the market for port services in their ports.

However, these provisions do not apply to cargo handling services, passenger services and pilotage. Also, Regulation 2017/352 does not regulate the issue of self-handling of port services by shipowners. The right of self-handling mooring services by shipowners has become controversial in recent years in Croatian ports open to public traffic, where port authorities have begun to provide berthing services for vessels used in public liner shipping and prohibit shipowners from performing them. The issue of mooring yachts and other recreational vessels used in nautical tourism is also controversial in Croatian seaports.

The Competition Agency determined the existence of the marina cartel and imposed fines on the participants in that cartel, as well as on the Association of Marinas at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce. However, the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia considered that the Agency had not established the fact of delivery of the minutes containing the agreement of the marinas on the prices of mooring services to cartel participants, so the Agency’s decision was not confirmed in the proceedings before that court. For Croatian marinas, it is also disputable that port authorities in ports open to public traffic increasingly provide mooring services for yachts and other pleasure craft, and their income generated by performing this type of economic activity is not taxable. These topics were discussed at the webinar organized by the Croatian Competition Law and Policy Association on February 17, 2022.

More information about the webinar can be found at the link.