The European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) welcomes the draft EP report on the future Connecting Europe Facility (CEF III), prepared by co-rapporteurs Oihane Agirregoitia (Rapporteur for the Transport Committee) and Martínez and Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz (Rapporteur for the Energy and Industry Committee), which will be discussed in the TRAN-ITRE joint meeting of 15 April. ESPO particularly appreciates the clear recognition of the strategic importance of European ports for the Union’s competitiveness and resilience.

The draft report rightly refers to the important geostrategic role of maritime ports as cross-border multimodal nodes which serve not only as transport hubs, but also as gateways for trade, industrial clusters, military mobility and energy hubs. Ports are characterised as having a cross-border function, which is also reflected in the Annex to the proposed Regulation. European ports play a pivotal role in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and resilience, and are therefore indispensable partners in advancing the energy transition, strengthening military mobility and supporting a competitive Europe as a whole.

“We very much welcome the draft TRAN-ITRE report which shows a good understanding of the strategic role of ports in nowadays challenging geo-political and geo-economic environment. As signalled before, we are very supportive of the Commission proposal and are happy to see that the co-rapporteurs embrace the Commission text and strengthen it further. Of course, the strength of the future CEF will depend on its budget. We hope that the Member States will show their support for the CEF by giving it the budget it needs. Transport and in particular port infrastructure investments are key conditions to address Europe’s challenges in terms of decarbonisation, energy transition and security and resilience”, says ESPO’s Secretary General Isabelle Ryckbost.

ESPO supports the approach taken by the co-rapporteurs to use CEF military mobility support not only to support the 500 hotspot projects, but also to facilitate investments in those ports identified as strategic dual-use infrastructure by their respective Member States. For ESPO, it is vital that ports that do not have a formal TEN-T status but are strategically important for military mobility should be eligible for CEF funding. In fact, ESPO believes that the geo-strategic criterium for ports, introduced in the latest TEN-T review, should be applied to ensure that these key strategic ports are systematically added to the TEN-T network, as this would allow for strategic recognition, long-term planning certainty and adequate support.

MEP Oihane Agirregoitia Martínez

ESPO further appreciates the draft report’s focus on transparency and predictability via multi-annual work programmes that include objectives of the call and policy priority addressed, indicative timetables, and indicative budgetary amounts by sector. From ESPO’s point of view, a demarcation of dedicated budgetary amounts per mode of transport on top of clarity upfront on the priorities and timelines of the respective calls are crucial for applicants – including port authorities – in order to anticipate and prepare their project applications better and more in advance, allowing for a higher chance of successful and good quality applications.

MEP Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz

Moreover, ESPO highly supports the draft report’s proposal to ensure CEF support for the maintenance of infrastructure. Supporting the long-term performance and resilience of existing infrastructure is essential and ensures the longevity of infrastructure investments.

When it comes to CEF support for cross-border energy infrastructure, ESPO would like to emphasise that the scope should include infrastructure for transporting CO2, as this type of infrastructure is an important element in the decarbonisation of the industry.

ESPO has taken notice of the proposal of the co-rapporteurs to increase the role of the Member States in cross-border sections. While ESPO understands the wish to improve coordination among Member States, for instance in the case of rail projects, such an additional requirement is not very relevant for port projects.

ESPO and its members want to thank the co-rapporteurs for this draft report and are ready to engage in further dialogue with them and the shadow rapporteurs in the process going forward.
Source: ESPO