The European Parliament officially adopted the Berendsen report, an own-initiative report on “building a comprehensive European Port Strategy” following yesterday's vote: (585 in favour, 21 against and 26 abstentions).

In response, the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) highly welcomes the Parliament’s recognition of and support for the strategic and vital role that Europe’s ports play for European society and economy. The voted text also demonstrates a good understanding of the challenges ports are facing and the high investment needs ports have to be able to play the more comprehensive and critical role they have nowadays.

On top of being the Union’s gateways to the world, logistic nodes and industrial clusters, Europe’s ports are hubs of energy. As has been demonstrated over the last two years, ports play a critical role in ensuring Europe’s energy security and are at the same time facilitators, and even accelerators of the energy transition. Ports need large public and private investments to take on all these responsibilities and to continue to develop.

In today's geo-economic and geopolitical context, it is clear that the strategic role of ports is gaining in importance. Europe needs strong ports and solid supply chains at its core. ESPO therefore supports the Parliament’s plea to further harmonise the measures to strengthen the resilience and protection of Europe’s critical infrastructure, including ports. Ports look forward in that respect to the proposal to review the current Foreign Direct Investment Regulation, which is due to be released next week.

For ESPO, this review should oblige all EU Member States to implement a foreign direct investment screening system and carry out screenings in a more harmonised manner. This must enhance the necessary level playing field within Europe, and contribute to more legal certainty for potential investors aiming to invest in European ports. ESPO highly welcomes that the report underlines the importance of a more stable investment climate and predictability in investment assessments.

ESPO further welcomes Parliament’s focus on putting the competitiveness of Europe’s ports to the forefront, which comes with some important messages. The Parliament is asking for support for the role of ports in the energy transition, in particular in terms of developing hydrogen infrastructure in ports as well as speeding up the permitting procedures. It further calls for avoiding carbon and business leakage, avoiding excessive administrative burden, boosting of hinterland connections to and from ports, as well as for providing dedicated port envelopes under the Connecting Europe Facility.

Overall, ESPO believes that this report should pave the way for an approach ensuring a fair balance between strengthening Europe’s security and competitiveness on the one hand and safeguarding an open trade and attractive investment environment and the resilience of strong supply chains that are vital for Europe’s society and economy on the other.

Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General: “This Parliament report is a strong document. It comes at a right time. Ports in Europe are in transition. Both in their traditional role as gateways to trade and hubs in the supply chains, as well as in their new roles as enablers of Europe’s important transitions, ports are playing an increasingly strategic and critical role. This can only be sustainable if there is a supporting policy in place that is stable, provides certainty and supports ports in remaining competitive, including towards ports outside Europe. For us, supporting and enabling ports to maintain their important role, to prepare and ‘build’ for their new roles in achieving Europe’s ambitions is the best possible port strategy.”

ESPO finally stresses the importance of implementation of the legislation that has been put in place over the last years. Ports in Europe have been working with many new (European) legislative initiatives, specifically since 2017, ranging from the Port Services Regulation and the revised General Block Exemption Regulation, to the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation, the Distortive Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Network and Information Security Directive, the Critical Entities Regulation and the relevant pillars of the Fit for 55 Package. For ESPO, it is now important to see that these rules are being adequately implemented, progress is being made in reaching the ambitions, before launching reviews and taking additional measures. There is no time to lose.

The Transport Committee in the European Parliament has adopted the own-initiative report on building a comprehensive European Port Strategy.

On foot of this the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has highly welcomed that the report embraces the comprehensive role of Europe’s ports and the vital role that ports play for Europe’s society and economy. Not only as the European Union’s gateways to the world, logistic nodes and industrial clusters, but also as hubs of energy and facilitators of military mobility, Europe’s ports are enablers of the European Union’s important transitions and ambitions.

To be able to play this role, constantly develop and remain competitive, including vis-à-vis ports outside Europe, European ports require large amounts of public and private investments. As such, ESPO highly appreciates that the report recognises these investment needs and underlines the importance of a more stable investment climate and predictability in investment assessments.

ESPO further welcomes the European Union to further harmonize the measures to strengthen the resilience and protection of Europe’s critical infrastructures, including ports. The forthcoming review of the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation must oblige all EU Member States to implement a foreign direct investment screening system and carry out screenings in a more harmonised manner. This not only fosters the necessary level playing field within Europe, but also contributes to more legal certainty for potential investors aiming to invest in European ports.

Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General: “We would like to congratulate the rapporteur and shadow rapporteurs for their work on this report. It gathers a lot of important messages which clearly explains the comprehensive and increasingly important and strategic role of ports. We also read a clear understanding for the challenges ports in Europe are facing and their needs when it comes to investments. We believe that taking stock of all the legislation that has been agreed upon over the last years and focusing on and supporting its implementation is the best strategy forward.”

Since 2017, ports in Europe have been working with many new (European) legislative initiatives. Ranging from the Port Services Regulation and the revised General Block Exemption Regulation, to the Foreign Direct Investment Regulation, the Distortive Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Network and Information Security Directive, the Critical Entities Regulation and the relevant pillars of the Fit for 55 Package. It is now important to see that these rules are being adequately implemented, and properly assessed before launching reviews and taking additional measures.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) very much welcomes the aim of enhancing biodiversity and preserving nature.

ESPO therefore support the aims set out in the Nature Restoration Law, but believes this new proposal must act as a complement to existing EU legislation, rather than introducing another layer of complexity in nature restoration efforts.

The proposal must avoid reinventing the wheel, and should provide some flexibility for ports and a level playing field on the European level.

Since ports are often located in or near different natural areas, ports strive to integrate the protection of biodiversity in all port operations, making it part of their license to operate. Ports have already demonstrated that port development and ecological transition towards better and more nature can go in hand.

As partners in realising the energy transition, Europe’s ports will need more physical space and a facilitating legislative framework to truly become hubs of renewable energies, and to be an enabler in the race to a Net-Zero Europe. Socioeconomic and strategic considerations must be viewed alongside the continued economic operations of the ports and nature restoration efforts.

ESPO’s initial views on the proposal are available here.

“Whereas we support the Commission’s intention to better protect nature, it is important to understand that developing the infrastructure in ports that is necessary for Europe’s much needed energy transition, and restoring nature can go hand in hand. Europe’s ports need a coherent, stable, and clear framework for nature restoration. Respect for existing well-functioning tools such as those of the Water Framework Directive is of paramount importance to succeed. Adding extra barriers and complexity could hinder the ports’ green development plans and hence the energy transition,“ says Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.
Europe’s seaports have a long-standing experience of working with nature

ESPO member ports have long-standing experience working with the protection and restoration of natural areas, working with the legal and scientific processes set out in relevant EU legislation, especially the Water Framework Directive (WFD) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). Together with the European Commission, ESPO has also developed guidance on the Habitats Directive. Different port good practices can be found here.

In addition to working closely with existing EU legislation, ports in Europe are going beyond legal requirements in their efforts to combine sustainable port operations with the promotion of biodiversity and habitat restoration.

Concerns regarding EP compromises on Article 4 and 5

The EP compromises for Articles 4 and 5 on restoration in coastal and marine environments respectively do not currently refer to the relevant EU legislation, specifically the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

In contrast to the Commission proposal, the EP compromise for Article 4 only leaves the possibility to apply the regime of the Habitats Directive. Crucially, the requirement of compensation now introduced in Art 4(8)c does not exist in WFD, where you only need to qualify exceptions from the requirements without engaging in mandatory compensatory measures. As a consequence, the Water Framework Directive would become irrelevant.

ESPO urges the EP rapporteur and MEPs in the responsible ENVI Committee to make sure that the Nature Restoration proposal is fully aligned with all relevant EU legislation, specifically the WFD. Since there seems to be no majority in the EP ENVI Committee to add “provided that the Member State concerned has adopted adequate compensatory measures”, ESPO would propose to delete this addition.

Strong support for the amendments calling for coherence and flexibility

Furthermore, ESPO strongly supports the following amendments that maintain coherence with EU legislation for the exceptions in Art. 4.8c: 851, 855, 856, 857, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864.

The WFD and MSFD also consider key socioeconomic aspects, allowing for the promotion and encouragement of renewable projects in combination with nature restoration efforts. ESPO welcomes that some mention of socioeconomic impacts is made in the draft EP compromises (Article 12(2)a (ja)), and underlines that these considerations must also form part of the operative Articles 4, 5 and 11. To this end, the following amendments tabled in the EP ENVI Committee should be reflected in the final EP compromises: 711, 736, 758, 759, 766, 848, 869-72, 875, 910, 920-21, 923.

The following amendments on the promotion of renewable projects and greater flexibility for ports should also be reflected in the final compromises: 1071-1073, 1080-81, 1084-5, 1119, 1126.

ESPO remains committed to help bring nature back in Europe through ambitious and workable measures aligned with existing legal and scientific processes.

The European Parliament have adopted the final EP-Council agreement for the revised EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) for shipping.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomed yesterday's Council agreement of the inclusion of maritime in the EU ETS as part of decarbonising shipping.

Europe’s ports have consistently called for an ambitious maritime EU ETS that makes the green transition of maritime possible, whilst protecting the competitiveness of European ports.

Whilst ESPO welcomes that a price tag is being put on the emissions produced by ships, the geographical scope of the EU ETS Maritime agreement could still lead to evasive port calls where shipping companies can avoid paying into the ETS by adding a call to a port outside the EU, or by reconfiguring their routes.

Evasion from the maritime EU ETS is a serious concern that continues to pose a threat to the credibility and robustness of the EU ETS for maritime. ESPO therefore calls for the Commission to start monitoring and effective prevention of carbon and business leakage from EU ETS Maritime.

Any evasion will threaten the integrity of the ETS, leading to higher emissions from longer voyages whilst failing to push shipping companies to green their operations. It will negatively affect employment and business activity in certain ports in the EU, and undermine their strategic role as hubs of transport, renewable energy, and connectivity.

Early action is crucial as changes in port traffic and the reconfiguration of shipping routes are almost impossible to reverse once they occur.

It is a positive signal that the political agreement takes the risks of evasion into account, and ESPO appreciates that the Commission will monitor and report on the impacts of EU ETS Maritime on port traffic, port evasion and traffic shift of transhipment hubs. Europe’s ports strongly support that the Commission acts as soon as evasion is identified.

ESPO also supports the co-legislators’ efforts to introduce a definition of “port of call” which excludes stops in container transhipment ports neighbouring the EU. This will however not be enough to ensure that evasion cannot take place. The changes in traffic patterns and routes should not only cover the +65% transhipment neighbouring ports but all non-EU neighbouring ports.

Finally, ESPO calls for the strategic use of revenues from EU ETS, where the decarbonisation of the sector will require significant investments in green refuelling and recharging infrastructure in ports. ESPO very much welcomes that revenues from the maritime ETS will support maritime decarbonisation through dedicated calls under the Innovation Fund, and calls for a significant part of the ETS revenues to be invested in ports in the EU via dedicated EU and national calls.

“We believe that the EU ETS maritime can be an effective instrument to boost the decarbonisation of shipping. With the current scope we fear however that shipping lines still have the choice either to go green, pay, or to divert their journey to limit or avoid the ETS charge altogether. This would have a reverse effect on emission reductions and would seriously harm the business of certain ports in Europe. The Commission must keep a serious eye on this from day one. If there is evasion taking place, the rules have to be adapted.” says Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.

Ports in Europe are committed in supporting the monitoring and prevention of carbon and business leakage through the Commission taking preventive and restorative measures.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) is pleased to see that a preliminary agreement has been reached between co-legislators on the proposal for FuelEU Maritime.

The agreement provides the shipping sector with a framework to accelerate their green transition through reduced emissions during navigation and at berth.

The ambitious requirements for ships to reduce emissions starting in 2025 will help drive the uptake of alternative fuels in shipping, as well as help ensure the use of shore side electricity (SSE).

ESPO welcomes that the agreement on FuelEU Maritime introduces a requirement for ships to use shore side electricity at berth in TEN-T ports as well as in other ports which installed this infrastructure starting in 2030. For ports, it is important that this obligation to use is implemented and strictly enforced.

The obligation to use comes however with quite some exceptions that risks further delaying and limiting the use of the shore side electricity installations in ports. For ports, in line with the upcoming new Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR), 2030 will be the deadline for having shore side electricity infrastructure in place.

It is to be expected that many ports will already have these installations operational years before that, without any guarantee of use. Ports therefore strongly hope for the engagement of shipping lines to use shore side electricity when available before 2030.

“We are pleased that for the first time there is an agreement on the greening ambitions for shipping, both during navigation and at berth. We would like to congratulate the rapporteur and all negotiators on this agreement. The requirements for ships when to use of electricity at berth, will hopefully break the chicken and egg discussion. We hope however that the flexibility given to shipping lines to decide their own greening path, will also be mirrored in the upcoming agreement on AFIR. There is no time and no money to lose, for shipping lines nor for ports. Reducing emissions, fast and efficient, should be the main ambition. We hope the AFIR is also giving some flexibility to ports to prioritise investments in onshore power in ports where it makes the most sense”, says ESPO’s Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost.

Europe’s ports furthermore favour the provisions in the agreement on compatibility between the shore side electricity on board ships with the installations in the port.

ESPO believes that coordination will be essential to boost the use of shore side electricity and to deliver real emission reductions. ESPO has consistently and successfully called for the introduction of a consultation mechanism for port stakeholders in FuelEU Maritime. Accordingly, Europe’s ports welcome that the preliminary agreement includes a provision requiring ships to inform the competent Member State of the port of call about their intention to use shore side electricity, and their power needs at berth.

ESPO also sees a recognition of the risk of carbon and business leakage in the agreement, but remains critical about the effectiveness of the clause. ESPO finally asks that the penalty revenues resulting from failure to connect to shore side electricity must be used to finance the necessary investments in shore-side electricity.

ESPO will continue to work closely with EU policymakers and shipping lines in the implementation of FuelEU Maritime, helping to make the greening of shipping a reality.

Ports in Europe have welcomed the preliminary agreement reached amongst co-legislators on the inclusion of shipping in a maritime EU Emission Trading System (EU ETS) with the final negotiations to be agreed this week.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) finds that the maritime ETS can be an important instrument to speed up the green transition of maritime.

To deliver this, Europe’s ports call for the final text on maritime ETS to prevent carbon and business leakage, whilst ensuring that ETS revenues are made available for greening investments in maritime and ports.

For the maritime EU ETS to be a success, European Parliament and Member States in Council must make sure that the ETS safeguards the competitiveness of European ports, and avoids carbon and business leakage to ports neighbouring the EU. Whereas the wording foreseen in the preliminary agreement on excluding calls in neighbouring container transhipment ports in the calculation of the ETS charges addresses the concern of carbon and business leakage, it remains to be seen how waterproof this solution is in practice. Monitoring from day one of application is essential.

ESPO very much welcomes the agreed wording on dedicated calls for maritime under the Innovation Fund, and considers this inclusion as a red line for accepting the final agreement along with the funding commitment. These funds should be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, and noise through sector-specific investments that facilitate the deployment and use of sustainable alternative fuels, including the electrification of vessels and onshore power infrastructure in ports.

For ESPO, the Innovation Fund should support the deployment of new technologies that effectively avoid generating greenhouse gas emissions, whilst bridging the funding gap for mature but not yet commercially viable projects. If only “first-of-a-kind projects” can be financed under the Innovation Fund, the added value of dedicated funding in the Innovation Fund remains very limited.

Moreover, ESPO strongly supports encouraging Member States to use the revenues generated from the auctioning of allowances for investments in maritime and ports.

"The deal reached on the maritime pillar of the ETS addresses both the concerns we have in terms of carbon and business leakage, and should ensure some funding for the heavy investments to be made to deliver the greening of shipping. A lot however will depend on the application of the provisions foreseen in this agreement. It will be of crucial importance to monitor from day one in view of identifying possible unwanted consequences at a very preliminary stage. Speeding up the greening of the shipping sector should remain the primary objective of this measure. Rerouting to ports outside the EU, or a modal shift to road are to be seen as failures of the system.", says Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.

ESPO has co-signed a joint maritime industry statement supporting such investments and calling for earmarking of ETS revenues in the final text. The industry statement is attached with this press release.

European ports look forward to a final agreement on a maritime EU ETS that makes the green transition of maritime possible, whilst protecting the competitiveness of European ports.

For the final ETS statement trilogue, this can be downloaded here from ESPO. 

The European Parliament Committee for Transport and Tourism (TRAN) yesterday adopted the draft opinion of MEP Novakov on the Commission proposal to bring the maritime sector into the EU Emission Trading System (ETS).

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the TRAN opinion’s clear recognition of the risks of carbon and business leakage that will occur if ships are able to avoid the regional EU ETS in different ways.

Europe’s ports are in favour of the inclusion of shipping in the EU ETS, but fear however that the current Commission proposal will lead to serious carbon leakage through rerouting of ships outside of the ETS scope, creating adverse effects on emission reductions and a negative impact on European port business.

The risk of evasive practices by ships must be better assessed and addressed in order to develop effective solutions that prevent carbon and business leakage. European ports therefore welcome the efforts made in the adopted TRAN opinion to find solutions to the threat of carbon and business leakage.

“The greening of the shipping sector remains a top priority for Europe’s ports. Putting a price tag on emissions can certainly help in stimulating the greening efforts. But this measure will not deliver if ships can reroute outside the scope of ETS. This rerouting is a real risk and must be avoided. In addition to the carbon leakage such rerouting will create, it could deal a death blow to certain strategic European ports at a time when these ports are needed more than ever before. It is very reassuring that the Transport Committee understands this issue and tries to find a solution. We hope the TRAN Committee’s position will be taken into account by the ENVI Committee,” says Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO Secretary General.

ESPO calls for the ENVI Committee to more clearly consider and address carbon and business leakage in the forthcoming report by MEP Peter Liese. Specifically, European ports supports a dedicated ex ante impact assessment on the risk of evasion and its impact on maritime and ports.

Based on the findings of such an impact assessment, specific preventive measures should be introduced to make it less attractive for ships to change their routes, divert calls, or engage in other evasive behaviour in order to avoid paying into the EU ETS. Such measures would be in line with the polluter pays principle, and are a precondition for an effective maritime ETS.

More work is needed to ensure that the maritime EU ETS delivers the greening of shipping, whilst safeguarding the competitiveness of the European maritime sector and ports.

European ports look forward to helping policymakers find solutions to the issue of carbon and business leakage to deliver an effective maritime ETS.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has welcomed the Commission proposal setting out the new guidelines for the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

The proposal, which was published on 14 December, lifts the importance of the maritime dimension and the role of ports within the framework of Europe’s TEN-T policy. It defines maritime ports as the entry and exit points for the land infrastructure of the trans-European transport network and, for the first time, explicitly recognises their role as cross-border multimodal nodes which serve not only as transport hubs, but also as gateways for trade, industrial clusters and energy hubs.

“Based on a first reading of the proposal, we would like to congratulate the Commission on this proposal, which recognises and reflects the important role seaports are playing in Europe’s transport network. ESPO and its members have always been strong supporters of Europe’s TEN-T policy and the current proposal gives the maritime dimension of TEN-T the place it deserves as an integral and equally important part of Europe’s transport infrastructure, with the seaports as the connecting points,” says ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost, in a first reaction to the proposal.

While ensuring the stability of the current network, the proposal succeeds in adding some important missing connections and nodes to the network. European ports especially welcome the inclusion of all maritime links in the dimension of the European Maritime Space (former Motorways of the Sea). By enhancing the maritime links with Ireland and expanding a Corridor across the Western Balkans, the proposal reflects Europe’s current connectivity needs. The alignment of the Rail Freight and TEN-T Corridors are also an important step forward.

European seaports welcome moreover the new focus on the resilience of the network. Not only climate resilience plays a crucial role to make port infrastructure future-proof, cybersecurity and diversionary lines in the hinterland are also a main priority of ports. As critical infrastructures, Europe’s ports also note with interest the different proposals to strengthen the tools to assess any risks to security or public order.

On a more critical note, ESPO regrets that pipelines have not been considered as part of Europe’s Transport Infrastructure. Pipelines will increasingly play an essential role in the implementation of Europe’s decarbonisation agenda and will be a necessary mode of transport for new energies.

“We will now look further into the details of the proposal, the annexes and maps on the table, but we consider the proposal as a solid and good basis to work on with the Commission, Parliament and Council,” adds Isabelle Ryckbost.

The Commission TEN-T proposal and annexes can be found here.

In a response the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) has supported the main outcomes of a vote on the own-initiative report on technical and operational measures for more efficient and cleaner maritime transport (Delli Report) in the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee.

“We welcome the ambition to green the shipping sector which is at the core of this report. We believe the report strikes a good balance between the need to accelerate the transition towards the use of low-carbon and zero-carbon alternative fuels in the maritime transport sector, while taking into account the necessity of preserving the competitiveness of the European maritime transport sector. But the adopted text is more than a text on maritime transport. It also touches on the main policy issues of importance to our seaports. We are very grateful to see that the Transport MEPs are recognising the strategic role of ports and their cross-border dimension. We very much appreciate the Parliament’s approach to the TEN-T review and the acknowledgement of ports’ role in that context, as well as the proposals for a revised Motorways of the Sea concept,” comments ESPO’s Secretary General, Isabelle Ryckbost.

Europe’s seaports consider the adopted text largely aligned with the principles of a goal-based and technology-neutral approach to greening shipping and the maritime sector. European ports note with approval the call on the Commission, shipowners and ship-operators to ensure the implementation of all available operational and technical measures to achieve energy efficiency. ESPO also supports the recognition of the role played by transitional fuels and the investments made in LNG infrastructure. In addition, European ports welcome that the text adequately recognises the potential future use of LNG infrastructure for low- or zero-emissions alternatives such as biogas.

In particular, ESPO welcomes the Parliament’s recognition of the cross-border dimension of maritime ports. The European Parliament clearly understands the wider role of seaports as clusters of all modes of transport, energy, industry and blue economy. The text also displays an awareness of the recent developments in the port sector towards more clustering and cooperation.

The adopted report very rightly pushes for sufficient funding to both deliver the greening agenda and ensure the multimodal connectivity of Europe’s seaports. ESPO’s 2018 study on The Infrastructure Investment Needs and Financing Challenge of European Ports concluded that only 4% of CEF funding in the period 2014-2017 went to projects initiated by maritime ports, whereas the funding needs of ports amounted to 48 billion EUR for the period 2018-2028. These figures do not include the investments needed for the delivery of the Green Deal ambitions and agenda.

In that context, ESPO supports the plea to channel a majority of investments into the maritime sector to boost the greening of the shipping sector, but stresses the importance of supporting dedicated significant investments in port infrastructure as a priority. ESPO does not favour the proposal for a subsidy scheme for shipowners to bridge the price gap between fossil fuels and clean alternative fuels, especially if these subsides should come from the potential ETS revenues. Using the EU ETS revenues for such a scheme could reduce available funding for necessary investments in port infrastructure and shipping, and create market distortions. Therefore, ESPO agrees with calling for an impact assessment of any such subsidy scheme.

As regards efficiency, ESPO believes that the concept of so-called port call optimisation should be further clarified. Better port planning is high on the agenda of European ports, but this process largely depends on the cooperation with the shipping lines and other stakeholders involved. Better port planning only works where shipping lines are prepared to engage for more accurate vessel arrival planning and management.

Finally, ESPO supports the following points and considerations in the voted report:

• the access for most polluting ships to be addressed in the context of the Port State Control legislation;
• the specific consideration of ports located in outermost regions and overseas countries and territories;
• the plea for a level playing field between EU and UK ports in the context of Brexit and the wish for smooth connectivity;
• the mention of bottom-up initiatives when referring to a possible strategy on zero-pollution ports.

The TRAN report will now be submitted to the plenary.

ESPO looks forward to continuing the debate with the MEPs on the issues addressed in the report.

The European Parliament has adopted the report on the revision of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) guidelines (2019/2192(INI)) with a large majority.

With the adoption of the own-initiative report last week, the Parliament set out its position on the upcoming revision of the TEN-T guidelines which is planned for the second half of 2021.

The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the final report by rapporteur Jens Gieseke (German, EPP).

ESPO especially welcomes that the strategic role of European maritime ports has been recognised by many members of the responsible Transport Committee during the compromise negotiations. The report further underlines the need for sufficient EU funding to complete the TEN-T network, regretting the recent cuts to the Connecting Europe Facility, decided by the Council.

The report properly reflects the complex nature of European maritime ports by stressing that ports are not only a component of maritime transport, but increasingly clusters of all modes of transport, energy, industry and blue economy, by highlighting the cross-border dimension of maritime ports and by recognising the necessity to increase synergies within ports between transport, energy and digital infrastructure.

In the framework of modal shift, ESPO fully supports the recognised importance of Motorways of the Sea (MoS) and short-sea shipping (SSS) as a sustainable mode of transport. The call for a simplification of the MoS requirements in order to create a level playing field with the land-based modes is an important step.

In preparation of the legislative proposal, the European Commission will launch a stakeholder consultation on the impact assessment in the coming weeks. The European Sea Ports Organisation is looking forward to actively contributing to the revision of the TEN-T network to better reflect the importance of a strong, integrated maritime dimension. The Commission proposal reviewing the 2013 Guidelines is due to come out in September 2021.