Brussels, 23/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - Ship owners are concerned that port reforms are coming to nothing because the Council and the European Parliament are watering down the European Commission's proposal on financial transparency and access to services.
The Council has already debated the reform and has shifted towards the watering down of the proposal, as sought by MEPs, which means excluding cargo handling, passenger services and even pilotage. It also means that the regulation will be exclusively applied to ports that are part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The rapporteur for the European Parliament, Knut Fleckenstein (EPP, Germany), is soon expected to resume work on the subject that has been left pending due to the European elections that recently took place. The Italian presidency is seeking to obtain an agreement between the co-legislators by the end of the year.
On the basis of their observations, shipowners would like to know what this legislative procedure will ultimately mean. The Secretary General of the European Community Shipowners Association (ECSA), Patrick Verhoeven, explained “the opportunity for a meaningful reform of EU ports is slipping through our fingers and at this stage the EU shipping industry's interest in supporting this proposal is indeed very limited”. Although ship owners do not want the ports package to be withdrawn (as they did during the two previous Commission attempts), they do, however, want member states to reconsider their approach so that reform can indeed improve port transparency and efficiency. (MD)