Challenging year

According to Victor Schoenmakers, Chairman of European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO), 2009 promises to be a challenging year for European seaports. The economic slow-down will not miss its effect on traffic volumes. Several ports are indeed for the first time after a long period of strong growth experiencing negative figures. The magnitude of the crisis is no doubt substantial and its duration difficult to predict. One certainty however is that doom-thinking and defeatism will only further stimulate the economic shrinkage. So although 2009 will be a difficult year, optimism no doubt remains a ‘moral duty’ as the – in these days often-quoted – philosopher Karl Popper once said.

There is indeed no reason to panic and it would be short-sighted for governments, port authorities and private investors to give in to the attitude of some interest groups who claim that the crisis is a good reason to stop or postpone vital investment projects in ports. Their arguments do not hold in the longer term and that is what ports, like all infrastructural projects, are built for. Markets will fluctuate but ports need to be prepared for continued growth in terms of maritime access infrastructure, terminal facilities and hinterland connections. Long-term investments in ‘hardware’ are however not sufficient. Port authorities also need to secure the ‘software’ by looking after the optimal and sustainable use of the existing port estate, promoting efficiency of port services and the effectiveness of the entire port product. This also means looking beyond the traditional commercial perspective by incorporating environmental and community management. It further means looking beyond the narrow port perspective and exploring ways to co-operate with other seaports, inland ports and terminals in order to offer sustainable logistic solutions.

Perseverance is also the message to the European Commission for the implementation of its ports policy which was adopted now more than a year ago. This process is likely to create substantial debate but should be led by the overall ambition to support and facilitate the sustainable development of the European port system.

Vision is especially needed in the debate on State aid guidelines where two radically opposed opinions exist. One defends the ‘traditional’ view whereby public funding of general infrastructure available to all users would not be regarded as State aid, the other is more ‘legalistic' and considers a priori all forms of public funding as State aid. The internal dispute between the services of the Commission is delaying publication of the guidelines which were originally announced for the end of 2008. The ‘legalistic' interpretation would not be in the interest of ports as it would create a huge bureaucracy in terms of notification procedures and would, mutatis mutandis, have to be applied to all forms of transport infrastructure as well. It is therefore hoped that the traditional approach will prevail in the end and that a series of guidelines will emerge which will be supportive to the sector and provide legal certainty for investors. Something we need more than ever in these trying times.

The same philosophy should apply to the announced review of the TEN-T guidelines on which a consultative Green Paper was published on 4 February. Seaports feature prominently in this review. Ports were so far not really integrated in the TEN-T for reasons of competition. But the Commission feels that it is time to reconsider this position, given the need to ensure adequate hinterland connections to and from ports and fill in missing links. This will not be an easy discussion and inevitably bring the controversial question of perceived imbalances in the European port system to the forefront. Still, it is a debate which has to be faced. Rather than focusing on individual modes and nodal points, a more holistic approach should be pursued, putting the main logistic corridors of Europe centre stage and defining where missing links and bottlenecks can be resolved through TEN-T funding. The annual conference of ESPO, which will this year be held in Marseilles on 14 and 15 May, will be entirely devoted to this theme and provide a platform for the input of the port sector to the Commission’s consultation.

The third forthcoming highlight for ports is the guidance on application of environmental legislation to port development projects, which is expected to reach completion by summer. This again raises the question of legal certainty. Although the production of a guidance document is possibly the only politically realistic option available, it remains to be seen whether the document will provide both practical advice and legal certainty for port planners. The real test will be whether the guidance document will be able to contain potential complainants within a clear-cut timeframe so that they will not be able to endlessly delay planning and consent procedures. A lot of good preparatory work has been done already but it is clear that we have not reached port yet.

In conclusion, it is obvious that 2009 will not be an easy year for the port sector, but there is no reason for the European Commission to change the constructive policy course that was set out in 2007. 2009 will also be a year of political change, with a new European Parliament being elected in June and a new Commission taking office in November. A reason more to make progress with the principal policy instruments outlined above as soon as possible.

Source: Transportweekly