The new European port policy proposals: Too much ado about nothing?
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The new European port policy proposals: Too much ado about nothing? H e r c u l e s H a r a l a m b i d e s a,b a n d M i c h e l e A c c i a r o c a
Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Brindisi Port Authority, Brindisi, Italy. E-mail: [email protected] c Kühne Logistics University, Hamburg, Germany. E-mail: [email protected] b
Abstract
It is widely felt that in order to strengthen the competitiveness of European ports it is needed to ensure fair competition among ports and the sector is anew facing new and old challenges related to its long-term development.These challenges, and arguably the inability of the port sector and the European Union (EU) Member States to meaningfully react to them on their own, are at the basis of the renewed attempt of the European Commission (EC) to develop a uniform and coherent policy package for ports. The article provides a critical account of recent EU policy initiatives, focusing on the most recent attempt of the EC to address some of the issues facing the port sector. The article discusses some of the controversies arising from the new EC policy approach, which, although milder in its contents than the previous attempts, recalls the content of the previous policy proposals, especially in the areas of liberalization of port services; pricing; competition; administrative simplification; financial and operational autonomy; and state aid provisions. The article concludes that the EU not only does not go far enough but, by trying to introduce compromises and conditions of considerable vagueness and ambiguity renders its policy proposals practically useless, thus allowing Member States the freedom to continue unabated as before.
Maritime Economics & Logistics (2015) 17, 127–141. doi:10.1057/mel.2015.5
Keywords: European port policy; port pricing; technical-nautical services; port infrastructure financing
Introduction One of the distinctive characteristics of most ports around the world is their mandate to contribute to trade facilitation and regional development. Efficient port © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1479-2931 Maritime Economics & Logistics www.palgrave-journals.com/mel/
Vol. 17, 2, 127–141
Haralambides and Acciaro
operations are a necessary condition for export competitiveness, and globalized markets would be unconceivable without an efficient port and shipping industry. Furthermore, ports constitute a sizeable component of public budgets and, often, they contribute substantially to employment and value added, thus, to the well-being of regions and countries. Large public expenditures are thus tied up in port investments, whereas considerable positive and negative externalities are associated with port infrastructure development and operations. The reasons enunciated in the previous paragraph are sufficient to justify the interest of society in ensuring efficient port operations and the meaningful expenditure of scarce public resources that ports command. It is thus not surprising that the intervention of public authorities in port a
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