Brussels, 08/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - In 2013 the European Commission will be unveiling a package of proposals to help ports remain competitive and support the huge potential for growth in the port sector, announced EU Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas on Thursday 8 September, during a visit to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands (Europe's biggest port).
Siim Kallas said that over the next two decades, the hundreds of sea ports in the EU “will face major challenges in terms of productivity, investment needs and employment, as well as integration with port cities and regions. My visit to Rotterdam this week reinforces my conviction of the huge potential that our ports have for growth in the years ahead, but we need to tackle the bottlenecks holding back port development and set out now a more coherent policy on ports and maritime infrastructure.” The 2013 proposals will support the reduction of the administrative burden in ports; proposals to improve the transparency of port financing; as well as proposals for measures on port services.
On port services, the commissioner said: “Ensuring that there is a competitive and open environment in port services provision, for example, is crucially important for seaports to adapt to the new economic, industrial and social requirements. We need to help our ports stay competitive by cutting more red tape; the Blue Belt pilot project, a priority programme which explores new ways to facilitate short sea shipping, is already helping to reduce the administrative burden in ports”.
Kallas added: “We must improve the transparency of port financing to avoid any distortions of competition and make clear exactly where public money is going. This will encourage more private investment, vital if the ports sector is to grow.”
In Rotterdam, Kallas said a conference would be held next year on the future of European ports, and the 2013 proposals would be drawn up following consultation with interested parties and a full impact analysis report.
The commissioner's visit to Rotterdam is part of the Commission's review of the framework for the European Union's ports policy as announced in the Transport White Paper published in March 2011. (O.L./transl.fl)