EU Ports Strategy

Key points

The EESC:

• considers that a successful EU Ports Strategy will depend on integrated governance, long-term investment planning, coordination across multiple policy domains and a strong social foundation that guarantees decent work, fair competition and active social dialogue while taking passengers’ rights into consideration;
• calls for careful assessment of the impact of regulatory measures on the competitiveness of EU ports, avoiding distortions vis à vis non-EU ports;
• considers that ports are major workplaces, central to Europe’s economy and trade, and their contribution is essential in the welfare of societies and timely distribution of goods, energy and services;
• recommends decisive financing support and clarification of its conditions; calls for fair allocation of EU climate and energy funding, including ETS revenues, to support decarbonisation and skills, while preventing disproportionate cost burdens, for more targeted support for SMEs in the sector, smaller ports and non-liner shipping operators, and to explicitly include the fisheries sector in upcoming investment instruments, notably the Sustainable Transport Investment Plan;
• highlights the need for scrutiny of port financing and ownership, including vertical integration and strategic acquisitions. It calls for greater transparency in ownership structures and control of port assets;
• calls for stronger implementation and interoperability of the European Maritime Single Window environment (EMSWe);
• considers that
  • the competitiveness of EU ports should be strengthened through digitalisation and artificial intelligence;
  • clean energy supply must be assured; 
  • security policies should address working conditions and job security;
  • maritime connectivity for islands and peripheral regions is fundamental for territorial cohesion, economic resilience and affordability, and should be reflected across EU ports and transport policy.