The ESPO Conference 2016 in 10 quotes
03 June 2016
On Thursday and Friday, the European port industry gathered in big numbers in Dublin for the 13th edition of the Annual Conference of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO). With more than 280 delegates, interesting speakers and good debates, ESPO can look back at a successful event.
How better to summarize such an
event than by quoting the speakers:
Santiago Garcia-Mila, Chairman, ESPO: “We believe that it is time to go beyond the “yes/no” discussion on a “European Maritime Single Window”, whatever it might mean. We believe developing an ambitious but realistic roadmap, taking into account the realities of shipping and the existing EU and national legal requirements will give the European port, shipping industry a real window of opportunities!”
Eamonn O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Port of Dublin: “It was a great opportunity to host both the Cruise Europe and ESPO Conferences in one week and to link them with the celebrations with our local community on the occasion of the Riverfest. This marks again our commitment to societal integration.”
Stavros Hatzakos, Chairman of the ESPO Cruise and Ferry Port Network: “Even if the code of Good Practices is a comprehensive document, it must be seen as a starting point. The annex with concrete examples that you can consult on the ESPO website will make it a living code allowing all interested ports to learn about new practices and examples and to complete and exchange new experiences with other ports. We also hope that this code will further enhance the cooperation and discussion with the other main cruise and ferry stakeholders in view of improving the performance of the sector as such and giving the sector the image it deserves.”
Knut Fleckenstein, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur on the Port Regulation: “The negotiations are advancing well, but whether or not we will find an agreement with the Dutch presidency mainly depends on two things: the council's willingness to show flexibility in terms of the social provisions and the progress made in the field of state aid and the block exemptions."
"Neither the port regulation nor the GBER are means to extend the concessions directive. We have a directive from 2014 with clear rules on concessions. If the commission wishes to revise it, they should do so by a legislative procedure and not by using the GBER as a back door entry."
Martina
Fontanet, Senior Advisor Port and Maritime Policy, Competition, Trade
Facilitation and Statistics, ESPO when presenting the report on
trends in EU port governance: “The vast majority of ports consider themselves
as mission driven entitites where cost recovery or profit is a must. The survey
also shows that port authorities are proactive TEN-T networkers and that they
work towards increased transparency.”
Kurt Nagle, President and CEO, AAPA-American Association of Port Authorities: “American presidential elections will have an impact on pending trade agreements. If concluded, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investments Partnership (TTIP) will have an important influence on traffic of American ports.”
Prof. Dr. Theo Notteboom, Full Professor and High-End Foreign Expert (SAFEA, State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs), Transportation Management College, Dalian Maritime University (DMU): “The Chinese are developing their own global core port network. Be sure to be part of it.”
Lars Jensen, Chief Executive, Cyberkeel: “Cyberattackers target the easiest prey. In order to face cybersecurity challenges, ports should have contingency plans, improve staff awareness, update procedures, and develop system separation.”
Henrik Hololei, Director General, DG MOVE European Commission: “Good infrastructure planning should also be to simplify our cumbersome authorization procedures. For large infrastructure projects it takes often more than 10 years from planning to building or dredging! This is why as announced in the Communication adopted on 1 June on its investment plan, we would like to explore the possibility to set up a single EU authorization framework to replace the many authorisation procedures for large projects with cross-border impacts.”
Pat Cox, Former President of the European Parliament and EU Coordinator for the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor: “The big added value of the TEN-T Corridors is the chance for people to talk with each other and not at the each other. If you wait for an EU grant as a primary driver, you might be waiting. Don’t postpone critical infrastructure developments, please sit down and look at other financial instruments.”
The next ESPO Conference will be hosted by the Port of Barcelona (Spain) and will take place on 1 - 2 June 2017.
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