The European Seaports Organisation (ESPO) welcomed the Common Understanding between the European Parliament and the Council on the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF II). On 25 March, the European Parliament’s Transport and Industry Committees confirmed the partial agreement, which sets out the EU’s funding priorities and modalities in the transport sector for the period 2021-2027. The precise budget will be negotiated under the new Parliament.
The European Parliament call for an increased transport budget of €33.5 bn. This is something that ESPO support, but noted that this amount would not be enough to complete the TEN-T network and to invest in a safe, modern and sustainable transport network. In addition, it believes the proposed €10 bn transfer from the Cohesion Fund to CEF II should be protected.
The Parliament has given a strong signal in favour of an increased transport budget for the coming years. We embrace this decision and hope it will be confirmed in the further negotiations. Completing the TEN-T network as foreseen is crucial for the future of Europe. But on top of that, enormous efforts are to be made in the field of decarbonisation and digitalization
Isabelle Ryckbost, ESPO’s secretary general, stated.
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Furthermore, ESPO said that it regrets that the definition of cross-border links has been weakened by the Council. It explained that for European ports, it is crucial to recognise the cross-border nature of projects, which are performed in one Member State, but which have an important cross-border impact. What is more, it added that considering their role as gateways to cross-border trade and the cross-border impact of port projects, ports should be viewed as international in nature and be placed on an equal priority with cross-border projects. In this aspect, ESPO welcomes the fact that any type of cross-border cooperation is recognised instead of the mandatory set-up of a single project company.
Continuing, ESPO also believes that in order to achieve a fully integrated and operational TEN-T network, more attention is needed for to the maritime pillar and to ports within the TEN-T network.
European ports are not only essential nodes of transport and logistics, linking maritime with all others modes of transport, they have also developed into important nodes of energy, industry and blue economy. In order to fulfil their role as sustainable, efficient and state-of-the-art ports, continuous investments are needed
ESPO believes.
Finally, ESPO called the policy makers to continue the negotiations on the basis of the Common Understanding and call for a swift adoption of CEF II to ensure a timely preparation of the Work Programmes.
The EP plenary vote of this agreement is planned to take place for the 15-18 April Strasbourg session.