Brussels, 28/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The promotion of "short distance" maritime transport within the EU will be the main theme of the Informal Transport Council in Gijon on the Spanish coast on 31 May-2 June. The Council will be chaired by the Spanish Minister for Transport and Public Works, Francisco Alverez-Cascos. Ministers are expected to discuss the issue of maritime safety and other security measures following the 11 September terrorist attacks.
In his letter presenting the agenda for the Gijon Council, the President of the Council pointed out that the development of Community cabotage will be one of the major priorities of the White Paper (presented in September 2001) on European transport policy until the end of the decade. "Community cabotage is considered to be a key factor in contributing to a better balance between modes of transport, by fully respecting environmental objectives", he added. The Minister also outlined that the main issues to be discussed would be intermodality, inter-port co-operation and administrative improvements.
The Commission stressed in its White Paper that maritime cabotage grew by 27% in the 1990s. It currently accounts for 41% of all goods transported. 44% of goods are transported by road, 8% by rail and 4% by sea. The Commission believes that a "sea motorway" would allow for certain congested routes like the Alps and the Pyrenees to be feed up to a certain extent in a way that is more environmentally-friendly (see EUROPE 15 May page 17).
In this context, discussions could also focus on the following themes:
Simplification of administrative measures: The Commission is expected to present a "Guide to customs procedures" at the informal council, which should be officially adopted in the summer. The guide is currently expected to deal only with a methodology for identifying and notifying problems encountered in customs. Ministers will also discuss co-ordination measures between ports that will be rationalising inspections of regular liaisons (customs, immigration, health inspections etc). The setting up of an electronic information exchange and the creation of a data base on the ports that accept declarations and visas by e-mail also figure on the agenda. Last December, the Council and the Parliament adopted a directive standardising the documents to be given to fleets when in European ports. The directive is based on the "FAL" standard model of the International Maritime Organisation.
Intermodality and technical standardisation: The Marco Polo programme presented in February by the Commission and currently being discussed by the Council, is expected to be debated. The programme has a budget of EUR 115 million for the 2003-2007 period and will be used to co-finance the creation of new services that will facilitate transfer between different modes of transport, as well as aid for developing short-distance maritime transport. Ministers are also expected to discuss measures that will improve the inter-connection between maritime, rail and road networks and to encourage the integration of enterprises that will allow "door-to-door" delivery services. Technological progress that will allow logistics and the standardisation process of different practices and materials to be improved, is also due to be discussed.
Developing the ports: The Presidency will be stressing the importance of competitiveness of the ports, as well as the relationship between quality and prices. Ministers may also be examining the liberalisation proposal for port services. The Transport Council of 17 June could reach an agreement on the document demanding tenders for service for inservice port fleets (handling, anchoring etc: ). Ministers could also focus discussions on the necessity of creating a common methodology for taxing access to infrastructures, a subject that the Commission is also expected to discuss in its next proposal on tariffs on access to infrastructure across the board.
Maritime services: Discussions could also centre on the creation of pilot maritime transport corridors, based on the models for fleets in the improvement of service frequency or the simplification of maritime traffic inspection measures (use of management centres and services, controls and information on maritime traffic).