On Monday 20 August, the Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, provided assurances that the European Commission’s proposal on 1 August for adapting the outline of the maritime corridor between Ireland and the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit “does not change the status of French ports or their access to funding at all”.
She is therefore providing a response to the letter of Elizabeth Borne, the French Minister of Transport, on 10 August, published by the newspaper Le Monde, which described the project as “unacceptable”. According to the French authorities, the new link would promote Dutch and Belgian ports, to the disadvantage of those in France.
The North Sea-Mediterranean corridor would allow Irish goods to be transported through Liverpool and London, followed by Calais and other ports in mainland Europe.
In the future, transport handlers will want to save time and money created by British controls. In anticipation of there not being a deal between the EU and United Kingdom on the latter's withdrawal from the EU, the Commission is proposing to strengthen links between Dublin and Cork in Ireland and Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Rotterdam in Europe.
Ms Borne considers that the proposal fails to take note of the obvious interest there is for French ports to have direct links with Ireland. She is advocating a direct link between Le Havre-Ireland and for trade through Cherbourg Brest and Roscoff to be taken into better account. The Minister also advocates that trade links between Calais and Dunkirk be improved.
Commissioner Bulc is attempting to provide reassurances by insisting on the fact that the proposal is exclusively focusing on the short-term (up to 2020) and a possible emergency solution for safeguarding Irish imports and exports after 30 March 2019, the date planned for Brexit.
Ms Bulc emphasised that “the proposed adjustment does not change the situation of French ports in the corridor (Calais and Dunkirk) or their ability to access European funding in the Connecting Europe Facility”.
French facilities on the Atlantic coast (Brest, Roscoff, Cherbourg) would also remain eligible for taking part in the central network. The European Commissioner also provided assurances that the French request for a Saint-Nazaire-Nantes-Tours connection to be added to the Atlantic corridor has been maintained. The proposal on the table has been submitted for approval by the Parliament and Council. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)