Stampa

FINMARE GROUP REORGANISATION PLAN (Advisory opinion)


PRESS RELEASE



The Finmare Group restructuring plan retains the old protection system to the detriment of free competition.

The Authority has submitted a report to parliament and the government regarding the Finmare Group reorganisation plan. This plan, which is inconsistent with Community policy and the principles of competition, enables the Group to fully exploit all the benefits accruing from current legislation for the provision of services in the public interest, thereby giving the Group companies a privileged position on the market in a manner which also restricts competition.
Under current legislation, Group companies plying scheduled shipping services to the islands are entitled to an operating subsidy for the routes deemed to be essential for guaranteeing between the mainland and the islands. The Finmare Group is under a statutory obligation to suggest the routes and the frequency of the services deemed to be socially essential, and to propose the fares charged for these services. The law also requires a twenty-year contract to be concluded between the shipping lines and the Ministry of Transport and Navigation. The services provided by the shipping lines parties to the contract entitle them to an equalisation subsidy offsetting the difference between revenues and costs.
Under its reorganisation plan the Finmare Group suggests that the present regulatory system should be retained until the latest statutory date, and expresses the hope that the system will foster the development of more strictly commercial activities on the part of the Group's companies concerned. One particular point is that the Group would establish a major advantage over its competitors by investing in high-speed vessels which would be financed using the present system of subsidies, mainly to play the commercially more attractive routes.
The authority points out that the Community has expressed the need for greater competition between shipping lines by requiring the coasting services to the islands of the European Union to be liberalised as from 1st January 1999, and stating that if any public service contracts are concluded, or if public service obligations are imposed on shipping lines running scheduled services to the islands there must be no discrimination against any other Community shipping line, all of which must be eligible to receive whatever subsidies are available for providing statutory services. It has also suggested that contracts for these services should be awarded on the basis of a public competitive tender.
Bearing these considerations in mind, and considering earlier reports on this same subject, the Authority must reject the Finmare Group's reorganisation plan and in compliance with its statutory duties under the Antitrust Act once again requests parliament and the government to promptly modify the current arrangements for the scheduled shipping services to and from the islands.
The most important step that needs to be taken at once is to give the governmental authorities total responsibility for establishing which services are essential and for setting the tariffs for them, without giving the shipping lines any say in this matter whatsoever.
The Authority also considers that legislation should be enacted as soon as possible, if possible under the present contractual arrangements, to draw a clear distinction between the public service and other operations. A distinction between the a public service and other competitive operations provided by the same company could be introduced at once by amending the contracts that require separate accounting by the Finmare Group companies.
Lastly, wherever possible, other shipping lines must also be enabled to run scheduled services on the routes declared to be part of a public service. If there is only one operator, a competitive tender should be held to award the public services in accordance with Community legislation.
In submitting this opinion, the Authority emphasises that the proposed changes would both increase the quantity and enhance the quality of the services offered, and encourage more competitive pricing for the service, thereby reducing the burden on the public purse. This would release resources which could be used to better satisfy the demand for transport to and from Italy's islands.

Rome, 16 July 1998