Kroes wil opheffing van vaststelling vliegtuigtickets door IATA-conferenties (en)

The European Commission has presented for consultation a draft Block Exemption Regulation with a view to revising the exemption IATA passenger tariff conferences currently enjoy from the EC Treaty's ban on restrictive business practices (Article 81). The draft Regulation proposes to discontinue the exemption for tariff conferences for routes within the EU as of 1 January 2007, with a transitional period until 31 December 2006 to allow IATA time to work on alternative arrangements. For tariff conferences on routes between the EU and non-EU countries, the draft Regulation proposes an exemption until 30 June 2008, provided that participating airlines provide the Commission with data to allow a detailed review of the situation in 2008. The Commission will now consult Member States and give interested parties a further opportunity to make their views known, before deciding on the final form of the Block Exemption in 2006.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes i said "IATA passenger tariff conferences appear to facilitate interlining on routes to third countries, but I do not have sufficient assurances that these conferences will continue to benefit passengers who interline on journeys within the EU. Therefore, I am proposing to phase out the immunity from EU competition rules for routes within the EU. I am committed to continuing the dialogue with IATA with a view to developing alternative systems for multilateral interlining."

A block exemption Regulation gives legal assurance that the agreements concerned are compatible with EU competition rules on condition that the agreements respect requirements laid down in the Regulation. In the absence of a block exemption, it is for individual companies to ensure that their agreements are compatible with the competition rules. Since 1993, the Commission has block exempted tariff conferences and slots and scheduling conferences organised under the auspices of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association representing some 265 airlines worldwide.

Interlining occurs when a passenger flies using just one ticket with two or more carriers. Interlining allows consumers to combine the services of different airlines and makes multi-carrier journeys seamless: at a transit airport, passengers do not have to collect their luggage and check in again and their baggage will automatically follow through to their final destination. The IATA interlining system is one of four types of interlining systems that exist, the others being global airline alliances, code-share agreements, and bilateral interlining agreements. IATA interlining operates at prices agreed by all airlines together in the IATA tariff conferences.

The Commission's proposals follow consultations with industry, trade and consumer organisations, and national authorities, launched in June 2004. These consultations showed that interlining benefits consumers, but that the importance of IATA interlining as part of overall interlining in the EU is relatively small, and that there are several alternative forms of interlining. As a result, there is insufficient assurance for routes within the EU that the benefits to consumers will continue to outweigh the risks of the restriction of competition arising from the prices being agreed within the IATA conferences. The consultations showed however that on routes between the EU and third countries interlining is appreciably more important. On these routes there is sufficient assurance that the benefits of IATA interlining outweigh the disadvantages of the restriction of competition.

The public consultations also covered IATA slots and scheduling conferences, revealing that in their present form they are clearly compatible with the competition rules. The legal certainty provided by a block exemption is therefore no longer needed and the Commission therefore does not intend to further prolong the block exemption for slots and scheduling.

The Commission will now consult Member States on the draft Regulation and subsequently publish it in the EU Official Journal to allow interested parties a further opportunity to make their views known. The Commission will then consult Member States again before adopting the final Block Exemption Regulation in 2006.

For further information on the revision of the Block Exemptions, see MEMO/05/430. Useful links:
  The DG Competition Consultation Paper from 30 June 2004 is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/consultation_paper_en.pdf

  Submissions and responses received following the June 2004 Consultation Paper are available under:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/1617/contributions.html
  The DG Competition Discussion Paper from 2 March 2005 is available at:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/discussion_paper_en.pdf

  Submissions and responses received following the March 2005 Discussion Paper are available under:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/competition/antitrust/others/1617bis/discussion.html