Follow up to T9-0025/2024

Follow up to the European Parliament non-legislative resolution on Building a comprehensive European port strategy

Rapporteur: Tom BERENDSEN (EPP / NL)

Reference numbers: 2023/2059 (INI) / A9-0443/2023 / P9_TA(2024)0025

Date of adoption of the resolution: 17 January 2024

Competent Parliamentary Committee: Transport and Tourism Committee (TRAN)

Brief analysis/ assessment of the resolution and requests made in it:

The European Parliament’s report on building a comprehensive European port strategy covers a large number of issues related to ports under 4 headings (foreign influence, paragraphs 1-16; security, paragraphs 17-26; role of ports in the energy transition, paragraphs 27-33; and competitiveness of ports and companies, paragraphs 34-50).

In these areas, it notably calls on:

the Commission to take additional initiatives to reduce foreign influence and limit third country investments in EU ports;

the Commission and the Member States to address the need to prevent and reduce the risks of espionage and sabotage in ports and other critical infrastructure, including risks linked to digitalisation and cybersecurity;

the Commission and the Member States to address the increasing need for investments in ports and terminals and their infrastructure in view of their role in their energy transition and the need to support modal shift, as well as the need for training, education and good social conditions for the workforce;

the Commission to give priority to strengthening the competitiveness of European ports and companies and eliminate price competition (“underpricing”), to monitor that European legislation does not lead to carbon and business leakage to ports outside the EU, to ensure standardised custom controls, to ensure fair competition and reciprocity vis-à-vis operators from third countries such as China, including through the EU Global Gateway initiative, to improve the capacity and resilience of hinterland connections, including to climate change, to define an ambitious industrial strategy for maritime manufacturing, such as shipbuilding, to stimulate innovation and digitalisation in ports, and to allocate increased funding for ports for them to remain competitive;

the Commission to present a comprehensive European Port Strategy addressing the aforementioned issues by the end of 2024.

Response to the requests and overview of the action taken, or intended to be taken, by the Commission:

The Commission fully agrees on the need to support and improve the competitiveness, resilience, and twin green and digital transitions of EU ports, and of the whole EU transport sector. This will allow the sector to grow in a way that is a sustainable, both in social and environmental terms. These priorities are fully in line with the Commission’s objectives of sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy from 2020, which lays the ground for the future strategic development of the entire European transport system, including ports.

The revision of the TEN-T Regulation will provide the strategic framework for the European transport network, including for ports. The revised regulation will give increased importance to maritime transport and ports by creating a European Maritime Space as the maritime dimension of the TEN-T. Ports’ increasing role in the energy transition is also reflected through the addition of several ports to the TEN-T network. The resilience and flexibility of the network approach enshrined in the TEN-T has been demonstrated in the context of important disruptions and challenges due to crisis situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine. During this time, the whole European transport system, including European ports and their hinterland connections, has been at the core of the Commission’s efforts to keep supply chains working.

The European economy benefits from investments in ports, including investments from third countries, which facilitates international trade and helps creating jobs and growth. European companies are, for example, among world leaders in maritime transport and logistics. However, the EU needs to ensure that investments from third countries do not lead to strategic dependencies, and do not pose risks to European security and public order. These aspects are at the core of the Economic Security Strategy and the various horizontal instruments put in place at EU level in recent years to ensure the security of critical economic assets, including transport infrastructure and ports. Examples of these instruments include the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation, the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, the Critical Entities Resilience Directive and the Network and Information Security (NIS2) Directive, covering notably cybersecurity aspects. The revision of the TEN-T also includes a provision on protecting the trans-European transport network against risks to security or public order. The regulation defines that Member States shall make all possible efforts to ensure that the TEN-T is protected against risks to security or public order, by assessing those potential risks arising from participations of or contributions by an undertaking of a third country in a project of common interest. Recently, with the Economic Security Package, the Commission presented a proposal to strengthen the Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) Screening Regulation and notably make it mandatory for the Member States to implement a screening mechanism. It is of utmost importance that these instruments are fully implemented.

Foreign Influence

As regards foreign influence in EU ports (paragraphs 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 20), the Commission is of the opinion that continued and uninterrupted transport services are of key strategic importance for the whole EU. Transport nodes, such as ports in particular, as transport and logistics hubs, linking all the relevant modes, are key for the internal and international connectivity of the EU.

While the EU remains open to foreign investment, this openness needs to be safeguarded by appropriate controls to ensure that these investments do not pose a risk to security or public order in the EU. In 2019, the EU established a framework for foreign direct investments screening. It provides for a cooperation mechanism between the Commission and the Member States to identify, assess and mitigate potential risks to security or public order constituted by an FDI. The risk assessment may take into consideration the potential effects of the FDI on critical infrastructure in the EU, including ports, and whether the government of a third country controls the foreign investor directly or indirectly.

On 24 January 2024 the Commission presented a legislative proposal for the revision of the FDI screening Regulation. The proposal aims to address existing shortcomings and improves the efficiency of the system by: 1) ensuring that all the Member States have a screening mechanism in place, with better harmonised national rules; 2) identifying minimum sectoral scope where all the Member States must screen foreign investments (including parts and participants of the trans-European transport network); and 3) extending EU screening to investments by EU investors that are ultimately controlled by individuals or businesses from a non-EU country.

The proposed revision of the FDI screening Regulation improves the information available to the Commission and the screening authorities of Member States about foreign investments affecting EU critical infrastructure, such as the trans-European transport network, which includes ports of strategic importance for the security and public order of the EU as well as for military mobility, and critical technologies, which may include intellectual property (paragraph 20). Furthermore, the proposed revision aims to improve the transparency of investment screening at national level by requiring all the Member States to publish an annual report with aggregate and anonymised data on the investments screened, including the outcome of screening decisions, nationalities, or country of establishment, of parties to the investments notified to the screening authority, and the economic sectors in which those transactions took place.

In addition, the proposal introduces the possibility for the Commission to issue a duly motivated opinion addressed to all the Member States if it considers that several foreign investments or other similar investments if they were to be made, taken together, and having regard to their characteristics, could affect the security or public order of the Union.

The proposed revision however maintains the key principles of the current system, which provide that the final decision is taken by the Member State where the investment takes place, and that the grounds for screening are limited to security and public order, which must be interpreted in line with EU law and the international commitments of the EU and its Member States.

The Commission agrees that the provisions of Article 47 of the revised TEN-T Regulation are a crucial element of the TEN-T policy, and an important complement to the provisions of the FDI Regulation (paragraph 9). In view of their accession process, enlargement countries must also transpose provisions of the FDI Regulation. This process is supporting the monitoring of involvement of third countries in ports in the context of enlargement policy. In addition, in Neighbourhood countries, the Commission via its delegations is already monitoring the involvement of third countries in key strategic ports.

With regard to paragraph 5, the revised TEN-T Regulation provides the strategic framework for the European transport network, including for ports. Ports can be linked by maritime connections within the European Maritime Space, which constitutes the maritime dimension of the TEN-T. However, any strategic cooperation between ports should not lead to anti-competitive agreements between ports and should be subject to compliance with competition rules (see also reply to paragraph 39).

With regard to paragraph 10, Regulation (EU) 2022/2560 on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (Foreign Subsidies Regulation) entered into force on 12 January 2023 and applies since 12 July 2023. In addition to ex-ante notification obligations for concentrations and public procurement procedures over certain thresholds, the Commission can for all other market situations start investigations on its own initiative (ex-officio) when it suspects that a foreign subsidy may be involved. The regulation applies equally to all sectors of the economy and all companies active in the EU. Nevertheless, it sets out the possibility for the Commission to conduct market investigations into specific sectors, such as ports.

About paragraph 11, on 10 October 2023, the Commission has adopted the decision not to extend beyond April 2024 the Consortia Block Exemption Regulation, following an in-depth evaluation. More information is available at the following link: Maritime Transport (europa.eu). The Commission is closely monitoring the developments in the maritime logistics sector and is ready to intervene when necessary.

Regarding paragraph 14, the Port Services Regulation recognises the different port structures and port governance models in Member States and the important role of the managing body of the port, or the competent authority, for ensuring the provision of port services, including through concessions and lease contracts.

With regard to paragraph 16 and investments in ports located in overseas territories and outermost regions, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) dedicates the majority of its funding to sustainable modes of transport, including to the development of maritime ports on the TEN-T. In the outermost regions, an increased CEF co-financing rate is applied: CEF may support up to 70% of the eligible costs of the works undertaken in outermost regions. The Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund can also support projects in ports located in overseas territories and outermost regions.

Security

On paragraph 17, the Critical Entities Resilience (CER) Directive creates an overarching framework to enhance the resilience of critical entities that operate critical infrastructure, such as ports, against all hazards, whether natural or man-made, accidental or intentional (e.g. sabotage). Member States have the obligation to carry out risk assessments on their essential services and then identify their critical entities. Once identified as critical, such entities will have own obligations to take resilience-enhancing measures (e.g. ensure adequate physical protection of their premises and critical infrastructure, prevent incidents, respond to, resist and mitigate the consequences of incidents).

In addition, EU maritime transport security legislation provides for commercial port facilities and ships to put measures into place to protect themselves from intentional unlawful acts, mostly physical attacks, including sabotage. When assessing security risks from the perspective of the whole port area, Member States should consider whether some areas of the port are used for military functions.

About paragraphs 18, 19, 21 and 23, Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS 2 Directive) lays down measures that aim to achieve a high common level of cybersecurity across the EU, inter alia by laying down cybersecurity risk-management measures and reporting obligations for essential and important entities as well as for entities identified as critical entities under Directive (EU) 2022/2557 (CER Directive).

Work on critical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) supply chain security was recently launched in view of the implementation of Directive (EU) 2022/2555 (NIS2 Directive) which provides that the NIS Cooperation Group, in cooperation with the Commission and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), may carry out coordinated security risk assessments to address key supply chain risks, taking into account technical, and where relevant, non-technical risk factors. Entities operating in critical sectors covered by this directive should take into account the results of those assessments and recommended measures, in any, in view of their compliance with the cybersecurity risk management measures under that directive.

In March 2023, the Commission finalised guidance on how to treat cybersecurity at the port facility and port level, and how it can complement measures put into place under the NIS and the NIS 2 Directives. ENISA has also published useful guidelines concerning cybersecurity in ports, while EMSA has published guidelines on cybersecurity for ships. All these actions are aimed at raising the cybersecurity level in the EU maritime sector, and complementing horizontal EU cybersecurity rules that are being put into place. The Commission is also working with the Member States and third countries, such as the USA, to update cybersecurity guidelines at the level of the International Maritime Organisation and look for further ways to increase the level of cybersecurity of international shipping. Risks along the supply chain are also flagged in several EU level risks assessments/reports/ conclusions, including Nevers call (telecoms), Cyber Posture (telecoms, energy) and the Economic Security Exercise assessments.

The Commission is aware of the evolution and promotion of non-EU State-owned-controlled data sharing platforms. While the re-using and sharing of data in logistics contributes to the visibility, efficiency, agility and resilience of European and global supply chains, the Commission prefers and promotes balanced and neutral solutions, in conformity with the principles of the European Strategy for data, and with specific rules provided through related legislation, such as European Data Governance Act. Accordingly, these solutions need to be built and operated in a trusted, safe and secure manner and have open governance structures in line with data sovereignty where the data owners are in control of their data and their re-use. The Commission is also in regular contact with relevant stakeholders to monitor and analyse the use of non-EU State-owned-controlled data sharing platforms by supply chain actors, including ports.

With regard to paragraphs 24 and 25, the European Ports alliance is a flagship initiative of the EU Roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, for which the Commission will work together with relevant stakeholders, including law enforcement, customs, port authorities and sectorial organisations representing the logistical chain, to ensure that the ports in the EU are resilient to the escalating threat posed by criminal networks trafficking drugs. The Commission also adopted a proposal for Council Recommendations to follow up on the main findings of the Schengen Thematic Evaluation on drug trafficking into the EU, which has identified several best practices to address the security and the resilience of Ports.

The Reform of the EU Customs Union proposed by the Commission in May last year, will strengthen the capabilities of customs in supervising the flow of goods entering and leaving the EU. As regards VAT fraud, with its VAT in the Digital Age proposal adopted on 8 December 2022, the Commission notably proposed a new system introducing real-time digital reporting for VAT purposes based on e-invoicing that will give Member States valuable information they need to step up the fight against VAT fraud, especially carousel fraud. The move to e-invoicing will help reduce VAT fraud by up to EUR 11 billion a year.

With regard to paragraph 26 and the resilience of ports to climate and environmental change, in line with the revised TEN-T Regulation, the Commission launched a study aimed to identify major climate resilience risks on the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), relevant adaptation measures to address them and their respective costs, and the investments needed to implement the identified measures. The study will support the Commission in the analysis of the investment needs in view of making the TEN-T network climate resilient. The analysis encompasses all transport modes, and it will include an assessment of climate risks for European ports and related transport infrastructure on the TEN-T network (including e.g. rising sea levels, flooding, extreme heat).

Role of ports in the energy transition

With regard to paragraph 28, the EU Hydrogen strategy adopted in 2020 set the development of renewable hydrogen as priority for the EU. In the REPowerEU Plan, the EU expressed an aspiration and a guide for its policy development and its aim to reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

With regard to paragraph 29, the Commission fully recognizes the importance of ports in the energy transition. Therefore, the Commission is addressing the role of ports and their challenges related to both their own environmental footprint and their ability to help decarbonise industrial activities and maritime transport. These challenges are the focus of pilot project called Port Electricity Commercial Model, to be finalised in the first half of 2024. The pilot project is a study carried out on the request of the European Parliament.

Within the North Seas Energy Cooperation (NSEC) framework, the Commission has been taking part in a project that is mapping, categorising and prioritising port infrastructure needs relating to offshore wind developments.

The revised Renewable Energy Directive imposes new obligations on the Member States to identify areas where the deployment of renewable energy projects can be under faster and simpler permitting rules (renewables acceleration areas - RAAs). Transport areas and their surroundings, including ports, could be identified as RAAs by the Member States.

With regard to paragraph 30, the trans-European energy network (TEN-E) Regulation, in force since June 2022, was revised to bring it in line with the priorities of the European Green Deal, and to bring greater synergies with other sectoral instruments such as the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) Regulation to drive decarbonisation by fostering a more cross-sectoral approach.

Given the expected significant increase in power demand from the transport sector, the TEN-E Regulation broadened and simplified the selection criteria for smart grid technologies to enable further synergies with the TEN-T Regulation. Hydrogen infrastructure, introduced in the scope of the revised TEN-E Regulation for the first time, allows for the selection of any equipment or installation allowing for hydrogen or hydrogen-derived fuels use in the transport sector within the TEN-T core network.

The revision of the TEN-T Regulation calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote projects of common interest which aim in particular to enhance the decarbonisation of all transport modes where possible through synergies with the TEN-E. Such infrastructure may include grid access, pipelines and other facilities necessary for the energy supply. Moreover, also in terms of funding priorities, more coordination and alignment should be envisaged.

With regard to paragraph 31, the Directive 2019/883 on port reception facilities already obliges ships to deliver their oily wastes to adequate waste reception facilities in accordance with the rules of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The protection of ports and shipping channels from oil slick will in the future be strengthened by the revised Directive on Environmental Crime, and also by the amendment of the Ship Source Pollution Directive.

The European Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform already features good practices in ports and guidance is provided by stakeholders. Important ports in Europe such as Antwerp have notably outlined circular economy strategies to reduce the environmental impact of their activities.

With respect to paragraphs 32 and 46 and modal shift, the European Green Deal calls for a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from transport, for the Union to become a climate-neutral economy by 2050. The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy clearly outlines how the European transport system aims to achieve this. It envisages that rail freight traffic should increase its market share by 50% by 2030 and double by 2050; transport by inland waterways and short sea shipping should increase its market share by 25% by 2030 and by 50% by 2050. The realization of the trans-European transport network will create the enabling conditions in terms of infrastructure basis allowing to make transport more sustainable, affordable and inclusive, to make sustainable alternatives widely available in a multimodal transport system and to put in place the right incentives to drive the transition. The proposal for a revised TEN-T Regulation, acknowledges that short sea shipping can make a substantial contribution to the decarbonisation of transport by carrying more freight and passengers on sea. The newly created overarching concept of the European Maritime Space will be promoted by creating or upgrading short-sea shipping routes and by developing maritime ports and their hinterland connections to provide an efficient and sustainable integration with other modes of transport.

The revised TEN-T Regulation sets out several transport infrastructure requirements for the core and comprehensive TEN-T maritime ports. These include among others an obligation to ensure that maritime ports with a total annual cargo volume of more than two million tons are connected with the rail and road infrastructure and, where possible, inland waterways; any maritime port that serves freight traffic offers at least one multimodal freight terminal which is open to all operators and users in a non-discriminatory way and which applies transparent and non-discriminatory charges; sea canals, port fairways and estuaries which connect two seas, or which provide access from the sea to maritime ports meet minimum standards of the good navigation status; and maritime ports connected to inland waterways are equipped with handling capacity for inland waterway vessels. All those requirements, if timely implemented, should greatly facilitate a modal shift and enhance hinterland connections.

As regards paragraph 33, employers and workers in the maritime sector are subject to the existing large body of EU Directives setting minimum requirements in the field of safety and health at work: the Framework Directive 89/391 requires the employer to evaluate all risks and to put in place appropriate preventive and protective measures, as well as adequate safety and health training. While some directives specifically concern the maritime sector, such as the Medical Treatment on Board Vessels Directive 92/29 and the Fishing Vessels Directive 93/103, others may also apply, such as for example the Manual Handling of Loads Directive 90/269, the Work Equipment Directive 2009/104, the Personal Protective Equipment Directive 89/656, the Vibrations Directive 2002/44 and the Noise Directive 2003/10. These contain additional specific provisions for the protection of workers.

As recently reiterated in the tripartite Declaration signed at the Val Duchesse Social Partners Summit on 31 January 2024, the Commission is committed to promoting and strengthening social dialogue. In January 2023, the Commission presented a new social dialogue initiative consisting of a Communication and a proposal for a Council Recommendation which was adopted in June 2023 by Council. The Commission also continues to support the EU sectoral social partners in the ports sector by organising the meetings of their Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee.

With support of the Commission, stakeholders in the shipbuilding and maritime technology industry have established a large-scale partnership under the Pact for Skills (Mobility–Transport (europa.eu)). The European social partners for this sector, notably SEA Europe and industriAll, are members of this partnership. It aims, among other objectives, at monitoring skill supply/ demand and anticipating skill needs, including for the green and digital transition.

The Commission shares the opinion that transport workers should be central to the digital and green transition and that the pro-active upskilling and reskilling are key elements to respond to the changing skills requirements triggered by the digitalisation and decarbonisation of ports and the maritime sector. The European Skills Agenda sets ambitious, quantitative objectives for upskilling and reskilling to be achieved as a response to the changing nature of jobs in the transport sector with the support of EU funds (e.g. the European Social Fund+, the Just Transition Fund and the Recovery and Resilience Facility). As part of the European Year of Skills, the Commission adopted the Recommendation on means to address the impact of automation and digitalisation on the transport workforce focused on addressing the challenges and taking advantages of the opportunities related to raising awareness, upskilling and reskilling, improving working conditions, managing change, and funding.

On making the industry more attractive to women, the Commission has been actively addressing the issue by engaging with port and maritime industry stakeholders through networks (the Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change and the Network of Diversity Ambassadors in Transport), supporting the organisation of events promoting best practices in the sector (Honours for Diversity and Inclusion in Maritime) and publishing studies (Study on good staff scheduling and rostering practices in transport and the Business case to increase female employment in transport).

The Council Recommendation on ensuring a fair transition to climate neutrality (2022/C 243/04) provides concrete guidance for Member States to address the employment and social aspects of climate, energy and environmental policies, in particular in the most affected sectors, such as transport.

Competitiveness of EU ports and companies

The competitiveness of the whole EU transport system, including ports, is at the core of the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.

With regard to paragraphs 35 and 36, the possible circumvention of obligations under the emission trading system (ETS) was carefully looked at in the impact assessment that accompanied the ETS proposal in 2021 and thoroughly discussed with the European Parliament and the Council. A similar approach was taken also during the development of the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation. As a result, the ETS Directive and the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation include several measures to mitigate the possible risk of circumvention, including a measure to address the risk of relocation of transhipment activities, which consists in disregarding stops by container ships in certain neighbouring container transhipment ports where the risk is the highest.

In addition, in accordance with the reporting and review clause of the ETS Directive and the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation, the Commission is already engaged in closely monitoring possible evasive behaviour, and impacts regarding, inter alia, possible transport cost increases, market distortions and changes in port traffic, such as port evasion and shifts of transhipment hubs, the overall competitiveness of the maritime sector in the Member States, and in particular impacts on those shipping services that constitute essential services of territorial continuity. It will report biennially to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of the ETS in respect of maritime transport and of the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation. Where appropriate, the Commission may propose measures to ensure the effective implementation of the ETS and of the Fuel EU Maritime Regulation.

It is important to recall that the green transition offers opportunities to decarbonise the maritime sector and increase its competitiveness and climate resilience. The shipping sector, including EU ports, can benefit from ETS auctioning revenues to Member States or from the Innovation Fund. 20 million ETS allowances (i.e., about EUR 1.6 billion with a price of EUR 80 per allowance) should be deployed up to 2030 via the Innovation Fund to support the decarbonisation of the maritime sector, notably through dedicated topics in future calls for proposals.

As regards paragraphs 4 and 37 on the investment needs in ports, the Commission launched a study to identify the investment needs of the TEN-T network, including the maritime ports, and the quantification of investments. It is important to ensure sufficient investments to complete the TEN-T, as the non-completion of the TEN-T hampers the creation of an efficient, well-functioning transport network and could also lead to the loss of economic benefits, including jobs that are associated with the completion of TEN-T. This study should contribute to an informed discussion on the forthcoming new financial perspective post-2027 and in addition on the possibility of involving private capital to finalise the TEN-T network.

With regard to paragraph 38, the Commission agrees that excessive administrative burdens should be avoided and will take due account of this aspect when assessing whether additional initiatives would be necessary to complement the implementation of current measures and instruments.

With regard to paragraph 39, the call for increased cooperation between European ports and the elimination of harmful practices such as “underpricing” is problematic as it refers to commercial decisions by ports (pricing in particular) which should be taken independently under competition law. Indeed, Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union prohibits anti-competitive agreements between undertakings. Cooperation between ports to e.g. eliminate "underpricing" (meaning to avoid competition on prices) risks encouraging/ facilitating cartels or other anti-competitive practices between ports. Each undertaking, ports included, has to independently determine its behaviour on the market.

In this context, the Port Services Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/352) sets common rules on the financial transparency of ports, including provisions on port service charges and port infrastructure charges.

With regard to paragraphs 40, 41 and 42, the Customs reform proposed by the Commission in 2023 envisages to strengthen the cooperation between customs and other authorities for a better enforcement of prohibitions and restrictions. The key function of the new EU Customs Authority will be to pool expertise and competences that are currently scattered across the EU, to steer, coordinate, and support national customs authorities in the EU. Risk management activities at EU level will allow more harmonized and effective targeting to tackle financial and non-financial risks. This will enable strengthened supply chain supervision, with customs authorities at EU and national level ‘acting as one’ when it comes to controlling the EU’s external border for goods. The EU Customs Data Hub will allow more efficient provision of data by private companies and better data sharing between customs authorities, and between customs and other national authorities.

Regulation 2022/2399 establishing the EU Single Window Environment for Customs provides a new legal framework to improve information sharing and digital cooperation between customs administrations and other government authorities in charge of enforcing non-customs formalities at the EU border in areas such as health and safety, environmental protection, food and product safety, agriculture. This allows economic operators to clear certain customs formalities more easily and contributes to homogeneous application of customs controls across the EU.

As regards paragraph 44 on maritime cabotage, Regulation 3577/92 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States (maritime cabotage) provides the right to provide maritime cabotage services (i.e. the transport of goods or passengers within the same country) only to EU nationals or EU shipowners. The EU cabotage market is closed to any third country, including China. The only possibility for Chinese companies to provide such services is to incorporate in an EU company in accordance with EU law. China has a correspondent national law prohibiting foreign EU companies to provide cabotage services in China. Thus, it is not accurate that cabotage operations constitute a core element of the business model of Chinese shipping companies in EU.

At the same time, international maritime transport services between China and different EU Member States are allowed, according to the EU and China Maritime Transport Agreement (“MTA”) concluded in 2008. Cabotage operations are excluded from the scope of the agreement, in line with standard EU trade commitments in the sector. Restricting access to international maritime transport services within EU would not be possible without a change in horizontal trade policies and existing international commitments with third countries. Instead, the EU could strive for improving access of EU operators to the Chinese market by insisting on permitting EU companies to operate international relay in China. This could be done under the framework of MTA, during Annual Implementation Meetings. The EU’s ultimate goal is that, eventually, the Chinese market of international relay will be liberalised.

As regards paragraph 45, the Commission shares the view on the importance of the Global Gateway initiative to foster the role of ports worldwide in increasing the resilience of supply chains and decarbonising maritime transport and is working to extend the 2023 Global Green Shipping Corridor (GGSC) flagship initiative to this effect.

As regards the suggestion in paragraph 47 to establish an “atlas” of European ports, it should be noted that the TENtec database is a well-established and comprehensive tool containing a wealth of information on all transport modes on the TEN-T network. It is essential that the data and parameters available there are collected in a standardised, up-to-date and reliable manner. For this, the Commission services rely to a large extent on the cooperation with the Member States, Ports and Eurostat and other stakeholders who have or can collect the relevant information.

As regards paragraph 48, the Commission recognises the strategic importance of shipbuilding and its supply chain for the green and digital transition of the waterborne sector. The Commission is aware that the shipbuilding industry faces fierce international competition from countries like China and South Korea. In the context of the updated EU Industrial Strategy (2021), the Commission involved the shipbuilding industry and its supply chain in the co-creation of the “Transition Pathway for the Mobility industrial ecosystem”. The Commission has already taken several initiatives to strengthen the EU’s global maritime industry competitiveness and its global leadership in green shipping technologies (e.g. Pact for Skills in Shipbuilding, Innovation Fund, Zero Emission Waterborne Transport Partnership) and remains committed to tackling distortions at international and bilateral level.

On paragraph 49, the Commission has been very active in support of innovation and the digitalisation of ports. Several research and innovation projects have been funded under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. The “Ports the future” Call delivered EU funding of over EUR 16 million to 4 projects until 2022 (COREALIS, PortForward, PIXEL, DocksTheFuture), while the “European Green Deal” Call is providing EUR 50 million for 2 landmark projects until 2026, on the greening and digitalisation of European ports (MAGPIE, PIONEERS). Additional EU budget will be made available as a result of the 2023-2024 Calls, for instance EUR 15 million from the Zero-Emission Waterborne Transport partnership, towards real-time digital solutions to optimise navigation and port calls. Further actions on innovation and port digitalisation could also be considered as part of the Horizon Europe Cluster 5 Work Programmes 2025-2027.

As regards paragraph 50 on funding for ports, this issue has been partially addressed in the Commission reply to paragraphs 4 and 37. In addition, CEF is one of the main instruments providing support to ports with the aim to enable ports to become greener and more sustainable, and thus, more competitive. For example, CEF is contributing to the deployment of the alternative fuel infrastructure in ports and to the development of the port infrastructure. CEF is also contributing to the enhancing the connectivity between the TEN-T ports under the Motorways of the Seas/ European Maritime Space. Since 2014 CEF has provided funding of around EUR 2.2 billion for maritime transport and ports. Other instruments available to Member States and maritime ports include financing from the EIB, the Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility or Regional and Cohesion funding. Public funding at the level of EU and the Member States will, however, not be sufficient to meet the important financial needs of the sector. This underlines the importance of ensuring a regulatory framework conducive to private investments in ports.

Conclusion

As demonstrated by the examples mentioned above, the European Union has already taken strong action during the current mandate to strengthen competitiveness, security, resilience and the control of foreign influence in the European economy, including in ports. Several initiatives are also existing or were launched, aiming to strengthen the position of European ports not only in terms of operations and competitiveness but also in the green transition, including as important hubs for production and import of clean energies, such as offshore wind and hydrogen. The Commission is committed to the full implementation of these initiatives and tools. The Commission remains open to considering options for further action, if these are balanced, respect competition rules as well as international obligations and agreements, and can bring a clear value-added to existing strategies and tools without adding excessive additional administrative burden. However, any such new initiatives would be for the next Commission to decide, and would require a thorough preparation, including stakeholders’ consultation and possible impact assessments.