Brussels, 11/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Speaking at the annual European maritime port conference on Friday 10 May in Sopot (Poland), Commissioner Siim Kallas was eager to provide assurances to a sector expecting a broad-based legislative review next year (port services, administrative procedures and funding transparency). He also indicated that he was in favour of European guidelines on specific state aid to maritime ports. The future of European ports will be the subject of a conference that he is organising in Brussels during the last week of September.
Nothing to worry about. In the context of the ports, Kallas' views are based on the observation that “with so many different operational models and the like of clear European rules, a fair competitive environment is in certain cases not allowed to develop. It is now time to set up a more coherent European port strategy.” He is aware that the port community is concerned by the changes that the legislative package may introduce next spring but he sought to provide assurances in this connection: “it is certainly not for the Commission to tell ports how their business should be run, or to suggest particular business models… The proposed policy review is not about micro-management, nor about disrupting longstanding business models if they are working well... So this will not be a 'one size fits all approach'”.
The difficulties. There are still problems that have to be resolved in certain ports but the others will not be penalised and sufficient flexibility is required in order to adapt to local circumstances, explained Kallas. The commissioner will be working out what points will be covered in the review: “Port workers do not have enough social protection. And the relationship between port authorities and providers is not always very clear. There are issues to be resolved over state aids, port charges and concessions to provide services”.
State aid. In this connection, the commissioner notes that state aid is used in a variety of different ways throughout the Union: some ports appear to need public subsidies to operate, while others do not have this right but are, nonetheless, profitable. Subsequently, “although state aid is not part of the transport portfolio, personally I believe that there is a need for port-specific state aid guidelines” Kallas said. He also highlighted the need to complete the ongoing consultation (see EUROPE 10608), which will subsequently result in an impact study being developed.
European interconnection mechanism. The commissioner provided a number of comments on the conference on port funding and investment, and said on Twitter that the ports need full integration into the Trans-European Transport Network if they are to benefit from the European interconnection budget. This mechanism is planning to provide €32 billion for transport infrastructure projects that through their cross-border positions provide added European value. (MD/transl.fl)