In a report by the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Friday 23 September, investment in the European port sector is described as ineffective, unsustainable and much of it lost.
The figures speak for themselves and reflect the results published for European regional airports (see EUROPE 11219). In the 19 ports re-audited following a similar report in 2012, of around €2.5 billion invested in the form of subsidies or loans between 2000 and 2013, no less than €503 million was what is today unused or highly underused infrastructure. Investment is viewed as lost if infrastructure remains unused or underused three years after it is built.
Of this sum, nearly €194 million was earmarked for projects that duplicated existing infrastructure nearby, thus directly challenging their economic viability. Of the projects studied, there was an overshoot of costs of some €139 million . Nineteen of the 30 finalised projects (each port has a nuumber of EU co-financed projects) had a delay of around 136%, double the initially estimated time. To date, seven of the 37 projects assessed for the first time have still not been completed.
The authors also noted in the investigated ports a lack of interconnection with inland rail and road services, which suggests further public investment will be needed to make the new port infrastructure operational. In this connection, ECA says it is unrealistic to finance 104 core projects, which it says will have to be reduced in number to achieve the targets for 2030.
As far as ECA member Oskar Herics is concerned, the figures show that "maritime transport in the EU is in troubled waters" and there is a huge risk of losing investment over time. ECA says this disfunctioning demonstrates that ex ante conditions are not working properly and the European Commission is not providing the necessary follow-up. Cooperation between the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Commission has been highlighted by ECA.
The European Commission is required to monitor lending proposed by the EIB but the ECA report says the EIB does not provide full access to the required information. For example, ECA explains that EIB loans to ports outside the EU, in Morocco for example, sometimes have a negative impact on business at European ports that have been granted EU investment.
The auditors make a series of recommendations: - changing the number of ports that receive EU investment and drafting a development plan at EU level, focusing on major routes; - no longer financing infrastructure for unloading and storage of containers or infrastructure not in the public interest; - improving information submitted to the European Commission about EIB lending; - publishing clear guidelines for state aid in the port sector; - setting up a one-stop-shop for certification and authorisations and simplifying administrative formalities. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)