Gijon, 03/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - European Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio was highly critical of the vague impulse taken by unilateral measures in the United States, when speaking at the informal Transport Council in Gijon at the weekend. "There is a movement in the United States towards designating ports as 'undesirable', which could create problems. I spoke with the American authorities three weeks ago", she said. Some American representatives have called on the US Administration to draw up a sort of "black list" of ports whose controls, they say, are inadequate given the risks of terrorism and illegal immigration. The American authorities have already carried out controls on security measures in some European ports. Apparently only Rotterdam fully meets the American criteria. "We believe that this kind of approach could become discrimination and would be detrimental to the rule of international trade", warned the Commissioner, who called for the question to be tackled at the Transport Council in 17 June. "It is scandalous that competition between European ports is arbitrated by the United States", one French diplomat complains.
In this context, the Commissioner called on Member States to close their ranks in the context of negotiations under way at the International Maritime Organisation for the adoption of international security measures in maritime transport. Recommendations are expected to be adopted at the IMO diplomatic conference in December and a high level meeting in September should put the last touches to the text of the recommendation. Europeans adopted a common line but the British distanced themselves from the European position to come closer to the United States on some points, fears one European diplomat. Another diplomat considers the alarm raised by the Commission also serves as a reminder that it is calling for a brief to negotiate accession of the Community as such to the IMO. "It is the fifteen Member States that are full members of the IMO, and the Commission only has observer status", recalled Commissioner de Palacio in Gijon.