Barrot: Environment at heart of future European port policy

Barrot: Environment at heart of future European port policy European Union Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot on Friday said that environmental issues would shape the European Commission’s future seaport policy in which a communication is expected in mid October.
   Barrot, speaking at the European Sea Ports Organization’s conference in Algeciras in Spain, presented a series of “tools” to help develop the new policy vision, including:
   * Establishment of guidelines for the application of environmental legislation to port development.
   * State aid guidelines.
   * Extending the Transparency Directive to all ports.
   * Increased transparency of port tariffs.
   * An explanatory document outlining the application of EC Treaty rules on stevedoring and technical-nautical services.
   “The possibilities to construct new infrastructure are limited and must be reconciled with environmental concerns,” Barrot. “Investing, innovating and simplifying port operations and optimizing hinterland connections, but also attracting qualified and well-trained Europeans to work in our ports, will be key to increasing port capacity in response to growing and more sophisticated transport needs.”
   Barrot’s appearance in Algeciras concluded a consultation process with industry stakeholders, which he initiated at last year’s ESPO conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Since then, the EC has held six workshops in Antwerp, Hamburg, Lisbon, Valencia, Naples and Tallinn.
   ESPO Chairman Giuliano Gallanti thanked the commissioner for having started a “wide-ranging, open-minded and thought-provocative debate with the sector.”
   Gallanti added: “It indeed takes considerable political courage to question and review the current status of environmental legislation for instance, but we cannot walk away from this task. Policy should not automatically mean producing new legislation.
   “I think there is sufficient scope for the commission to develop a mixture of instruments and measures which stimulate good practice and proactive behavior of the sector, clarify the rules of the EC Treaty and simplify existing legislation,” Gallanti said.