Commission will not extend the Block Exemption Regulation for shipping consortia

Today, the European Commission has decided that the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation (‘CBER’) no longer promotes competition in the shipping sector and therefore it will let it expire on 25 April 2024. Today's decision follows a review process launched in 2022, aimed at gathering evidence on the functioning of the CBER since 2020.

According to the Commission’s Staff Working Document, given the small number and profile of consortia falling within the scope of the CBER, the CBER brings limited compliance cost savings to carriers and plays a secondary role in the carriers' decision to cooperate. Furthermore, the Commission has found that the CBER was no longer enabling smaller carriers to cooperate with each other and offer alter