Commission clears financing JadeWeserPort

The European Commission decided today not to raise any objections to Germany's plan to support the construction of a new port in Wilhelmshaven. The Commission found that the measures adopted by the German authorities are compatible with the Common market. The States of Bremen and Lower Saxony will finance – through publicly-owned entities JIB and JWPR – the basic infrastructure (maritime access and connections to land transport networks) and the infrastructure necessary for the construction of a new maritime container terminal in Wilhelmshaven on the mouth of the Jade River. The container terminal will be financed, constructed, operated and maintained by a selected terminal operator.

The Commission concludes that at the level of JIB and JWPR the public financing of the construction of the basic infrastructure and the terminal related infrastructure is compatible with the Common market pursuant to Article 87(3)(c) of the EC Treaty. The State intervention in the present case would be completely in line with the objectives to develop European ports in the framework of the European Transport Policy. Furthermore, the Commission considers that the 40-year concession agreement for the construction and operation of the terminal does not incorporate any State aid elements because it has been awarded on the basis of a Europe-wide open, transparent and non-discriminatory public tender. At the level of port users, the Commission believes that the notified measures do not lead to any State aid to port users as long as the access to the infrastructure is made on equal and non-discriminatory terms. On the basis of the above considerations, the Commission decided not to raise objections to the notified measures.

In an initial comment ESPO Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven said: “This is no doubt good news for Wilhelmshaven but it is too early to draw general conclusions. We have to see how this approach will be translated in the forthcoming State aid guidelines. What is for instance not really answered is whether public funding of basic infrastructure needs to be notified at all. The Commission seems to have treated this financing a priori as State aid but then declared it compatible on grounds of the criteria foreseen in the Treaty to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or areas. We however believe that public funding of basic infrastructure a priori does not represent State aid and needs to be clearly distinguished from financing of terminal-related infrastructure. Interesting in that respect is the connection which the Commission makes with public tender procedures.”

ESPO will await the full text of the decision to complete its analysis and then consider further steps with regard to the forthcoming State aid guidelines which are expected to be issued in spring next year.

Source: American Shipper