VILNIUS, February 23, 2026 — The Competition Council of Lithuania has concluded that proposed amendments to the Law on Safe Shipping, put forward by the Ministry of Transport and Communications, could affect the competitive environment in the shipping sector.
After assessing the draft amendments, the authority noted that the proposal to introduce a minimum general civil liability insurance requirement of at least EUR 200,000 for businesses engaged in loading cargo onto or from ships, or seeking to obtain such rights, could hinder the continuity of these businesses and restrict market entry or continued participation.
Under the current law, no minimum general civil liability insurance threshold is established for such businesses.
The authority also assessed a proposal to invalidate a pilot’s licence if a pilot has not guided ships into port for more than six months, with a new licence to be issued only after passing a qualification assessment examination. In the Competition Council’s view, this measure could also affect competition.
In its conclusions, the authority emphasised that restrictions on professional activities must be justified as necessary and proportionate. However, the accompanying documents to the draft amendments do not provide factual data demonstrating that not guiding ships for more than six months objectively reduces a pilot’s qualifications, or that requiring a new qualification examination constitutes a proportionate measure.
The Competition Council recommended that the drafters of the legislative proposals carry out an assessment of the impact of the proposed regulation on competition. Once the regulatory objectives are defined, it is important to consider whether these objectives could be achieved through less competition-restrictive alternatives and, if so, to choose the option that does not restrict competition or restricts it to the least extent possible.
