The European Commission has released informal guidance on a sustainability agreement aimed at reducing CO2 emissions in European ports. This guidance addresses the joint purchasing and setting of technical specifications for electric container-handling equipment, facilitating a transition from diesel to electric machinery.
APM Terminals, part of the Maersk Group, sought guidance for an agreement with other port terminal operators to jointly purchase and set minimum technical specifications for battery-electric straddle and shuttle carriers. These carriers are typically used in ports and currently rely on diesel power. The proposed agreement aims to lower costs for operators by pooling demand, providing suppliers with predictable demand forecasts, and improving interoperability between charging equipment from different suppliers.
The Commission’s guidance states that the agreement does not conflict with Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), provided it includes safeguards. These include allowing operators to purchase independently, capping pooled demand volume to prevent anti-competitive effects, and limiting sensitive information exchange among operators.
This guidance is based on information from APM Terminals and is valid for five years within the European Economic Area. The Commission will publish a non-confidential version of this guidance letter on its competition website under case number AT.40976 after addressing confidentiality requests.
Lea Zuber
Spokesperson
Phone: +32 2 29 56298
Mail: [email protected]
Sara Simonini
Press Officer
Phone: +32 2 29 83367
Mail: [email protected]
