Parliament OKs a report on EU port services regulation

The European Parliament adopted on December 14 2016 a report on the Regulation establishing a framework for the organisation of port services and financial transparency of ports presented by the rapporteur MEP Knut Fleckenstein, ECSA said Wednesday.

The proposal was originally put forward in 2013 but stalled due to the European Parliament elections in 2014 and then picked up again by the same rapporteur. It was the subject of intense discussions and long negotiations.

ECSA’s Secretary General Patrick Verhoeven commented: "ECSA has deplored throughout the discussions that this proposal does not address some of the market access problems in ports shipowners face. However, now that after 15 years of discussions we finally have a first EU law on ports, we should build on this and see it as a first step towards a genuine motorways of the sea in which ports are key points."

He added: "Especially for short sea shipping operators, who make frequent port calls and for whom by consequence well performing port services are proportionally extremely important, we call upon the European Commission to take now further efforts to ensure this sector can deliver its potential."

ECSA highlighted its priorities for an EU short sea shipping agenda earlier this year with the adoption of its SSS brochure.

The Council is expected to give soon its green light to the ports regulation proposal and in this way the text will be adopted as EU law.

The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), founded in 1965 under the name of “Comité des Associations d'Armateurs des Communautés Européennes (CAACE)”, is the trade association representing the national shipowners’ associations of the EU and Norway, or 40% of the world fleet by gross tonnage. The EU shipping industry contributes 145 billion to the EU GDP and provides 2.3 million Europeans with promising careers both onboard and ashore. ECSA promotes the interests of European shipping so that the industry can best serve European and international trade and commerce in a competitive free enterprise environment to the benefit of shippers and consumers and help formulate EU policy on critical maritime transport-related issues. ECSA consists of a Board of Directors, three specialised committees, a number of working groups and task forces and a permanent secretariat based in Brussels.