Brussels, 22/03/2002 (Agence Europe) - On 26 March, the Transport Council will take stock of the work in progress for adoption of a directive that opens the port services market up to competition. The text, proposed in February 2001, would make it compulsory to set calls for tenders in place for the services proposed to vessels inside ports (handling, mooring, etc.), the separation of regulatory activities and service activities, and the creation of independent authorities responsible for attributing permits to carry out activity. In February, the Commission presented a revised proposal that takes on board part of the amendments adopted at first reading by the Parliament in November 2001 (see EUROPE of 16 November). It mainly agreed to extend the scope of the directive to cover the waterways that give access to the port and to clarify the concept of self-assistance. It also acknowledges the need to ensure transparency of subsidies to ports. On the other hand, it rejected the amendment that would have excluded pilot services from the scope of the directive, though exclusion was adopted under pressure from French MEPs and the German left at the EP.
The European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) and the European Private Port Operators (FEPORT) welcomed this revised proposal in a joint press release, mainly supporting the Commission in its refusal to exclude pilot services from the scope of the directive. The two organisations, however, consider that some major points have not been resolved. Thus, "the directive does not recognise that the market of a service provider, mainly for cargo handling, may go beyond the port". In addition, it only takes into account the ports managed under the "landlord" model, that is, when the manager of the infrastructure rents the land to private handlers, a system that does not exist in the United Kingdom where ports are entirely privatised or in some Scandinavian countries where public management of ports is integrated, Patrick Verhoeven, ESPO Secretary General, comments.
ESPO and FEPORt also call on the Council to introduce what they believe are fundamental changes: 1) exclude ports that only deal with national traffic; 2) abolish the obligation of having at least two service providers for each cargo category, which "does not seem realistic"; 3) limit self-assistance to the ship's crew; 4) increase the maximum duration of the concessions over and beyond the periods of 5, 10 and 25 years fixed by the Commission according to the amount of investment provided.
Difficulties within the Council, which mainly come from British, Dutch, German and Greek delegations, cocnern the definition of the ports that will be covered by the Directive, according to their size, their private or public status and the integration of the vertical service structure. The Member States where there is a monopoly of dockers, like Sweden, also have problems with the self-assistance concept of maritime companies that may use their own personnel for port activities.