Brussels, 16 November 2022
On the 16th of November, FEPORT participated to the European Port Forum expert group meeting, set up in 2017 by the European Commission to exchange information and provide advice on port related matters.
The first topic on the agenda related to the implementation of the Port Services Regulation 2017/352/EU. The European Commission discussed the state of play on the infringement procedures, with a focus on the handlings of complaints (art.16), the relevant authority (art. 17) and the penalties (art. 19). The Commission also claimed that the main future concern will be the correct implementation of the aforementioned Regulation and its substance check, which will be carried out throughout 2023.
As regards the second item on the agenda, Mr. Idriss Pagand, Project Officer at the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA), presented the results of ERA’s report on “Fostering the railway sector through the European Green Deal: Rail-Port Synergies”. The study shows that:
- Developing rail infrastructure appears to be the top priority for ports, and digitalisation comes close to second;
- A lack of communication and data exchange is often perceived as an important barrier to developing further activities;
- Many ports are investing in the development of specific IT tools that facilitate the coordination of different port stakeholders with the aim of speeding up processes and improving control of railway operations;
- Very different models exist for the management of railway operations in ports;
- Different current models have their own advantages and disadvantages but ports that are not too dependent on the national infrastructure manager have considerably more flexibility to decide on rail investments and the future on the rail activities within ports.
- While for some ports the EU funds will not determine rail investments, for many others the EU’s contribution is considered vital to fund their projects. EU funds allow ports to develop their rail infrastructure, the key element for increasing the rail modal share;
- In the future, the competitiveness of ports will most probably be assessed on the base of their connection with railways.
Furthermore, Ms. Milla Tigani, (DG MOVE), presented the funding opportunities for ports, referring in particular to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund (CF) which in the current programming period (2021-2027) provide significant opportunities for transport, underpinning to make the progress for the TEN-T network but also improving the greening of the sector.
The main priorities are support for multimodality, investments in national, regional and local mobility, sustainable and green transport and improving access at regional and local level to TEN-T and cross-border mobility.
Finally, Ms. Marija Janeva, Project Manager at CINEA, presented the Maritime Ports projects on the Core Comprehensive Networks. The main priority will be proposals that:
- Modernize the ports, to support the development of zero or low emissions multimodal solutions (facilitation of port access);
- Develop zero or low emission multimodal solutions, develop ports’ capacities and facilities linked to offshore wind farms and improve connectivity with remote, insular and outermost regions, or of Member States with no land border with other Member States;
- Supply shore side electricity for vessels including cruise ships.